In a repeat occurrence, players representing a prominent Egyptian club staged a walkout during a match to express their discontent with a refereeing call for the second time within a week.
The incident took place on Wednesday during a game in the Egyptian Premier League at Osman Ahmed Osman Stadium, where Al-Mokawloon Al Arab was hosting Al-Ismaili.
The match was disrupted in the 57th minute when Al-Ismaili’s players left the pitch in protest after the opposing team was granted a penalty.
After approximately 20 minutes of negotiation and persuasion, the players finally returned to the field, allowing Nigerian striker John Okoli to take the penalty, which he successfully converted, giving Al-Mokawloon a 2-1 advantage.
However, in the closing stages of the match, during the ample period of stoppage time, Al-Ismaili managed to equalize, resulting in a 2-2 draw.
Mohamed Shiha, the vice president of Al-Ismaili, expressed his apologies for the incident and stated their willingness to accept any penalties or consequences that may follow.
This walkout came merely four days after a similar event during an Egypt Cup round of 16 match between Enppi and Future FC.
In that particular game, which took nearly three and a half hours to complete, the score was tied at 0-0 in the second half when the ball inadvertently struck the referee and fortuitously fell to Future FC, who capitalized on the opportunity and scored.
The referee was required to consult the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, but a technical malfunction resulted in a delay of 17 minutes before the final decision was delivered, ultimately upholding the goal.
In protest, the Enppi players stormed off the pitch, causing a 25-minute delay until the club’s president convinced them to resume the match.