From Egypt to Saudi Arabia… Has poor refereeing derailed Al Ahly’s league title hopes?

Al Ahly could only manage a 1–1 draw with Ceramica Cleopatra on Tuesday, their opening match in the Egyptian Premier League championship group.

It was the defending champions’ second consecutive setback in the Egyptian Premier League, following a 2–1 loss to Tala’ea El-Gaish in the final round of the regular phase.

The ‘Red Giants’ have now gone three matches without a win, having previously been eliminated from the African Champions League quarter-finals by Tunisia’s Étoile du Sahel, 4-2 on aggregate.

Less than 24 hours later, the Saudi Arabian Al Ahly side also settled for a 1–1 draw with Al-Fayha at the Al-Majma’ah Sports City Stadium in Round 29 of the Saudi League.

It was Al-Ahli’s second setback in their last three Saudi Pro League outings, following a 2–1 loss to Al-Qadisiyah in matchday 26.

Al-Ahli had already exited the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup, losing to Al-Hilal on penalties after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes.

In both the Egyptian and Saudi leagues, Al Ahly have been on the wrong end of controversial refereeing decisions deep in stoppage time.

In the Egyptian fixture, the ball struck Ceramica Cleopatra defender Ahmed Hani’s hand deep in stoppage time, yet referee Mahmoud Wafa refused to award a penalty.

Despite a VAR review initiated by Mahmoud Ashour, Wafa stood by his original call, and the match finished 1–1.

An almost identical scenario unfolded in the Saudi League, where the ball struck Al-Fayha defender Villanueva’s arm during a clearance by teammate Chris Smalling, yet referee Mohamed Al-Sama’il also denied a penalty.

After sustained pressure from Al-Ahli players, Al-Sama’il reviewed the incident via VAR but upheld his original call.

Those appeals were the third and fourth times Al-Ahli had called for a spot-kick in the game, underlining their frustration with the officiating.

Setbacks have complicated Al Ahly’s title challenge in both the Egyptian and Saudi leagues.

They remain on 41 points, sitting third in the Egyptian Premier League table, five points behind leaders Zamalek and two points adrift of second-placed Pyramids, who have played one game fewer.

Their title fate is now out of their hands: they must win all five remaining fixtures and hope their rivals falter.

The same script is playing out in Saudi Arabia, where Al-Ahli Jeddah sit third on 66 points, four adrift of pacesetters Al-Nassr (who have a game in hand) and two behind Al-Hilal.

Like their Egyptian namesake, Al Ra’ed’s title fate is likewise out of their hands: they must win every remaining match and hope the teams above them falter over the final six rounds.

The clubs’ joint statement—issued in response to the controversial refereeing decisions that marred both legs—condemns the errors and demands a formal investigation.

Both statements stressed the need to release the audio of the referee–VAR communications.

Officials at both clubs backed up these statements with fierce criticism. Al Ahly’s football director, Sayed Abdelhafiz, singled out referee Mahmoud Wafa, claiming his decisions had cost the team.

In the Saudi camp, English striker Ivan Toney and Brazilian winger Wenderson Galeno alleged that the fourth official instructed them to prioritise the Asian competition over the domestic league—a claim later backed by German coach Matthias Jaissle.

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