Professional referee suspended for using fan’s phone as VAR

Al-Nasr thought they had scored a late equaliser away to Suez in a second-division match last Friday.

There is no video assistant referee (VAR) in Egypt’s second tier, but Farouk used the phone to watch a replay after the home side protested there was a handball.

Farouk then ruled the goal out.

In a statement, the Egyptian Football Association said that Vitor Pereira, who replaced Mark Clattenburg as head of the Egyptian Referees Committee earlier this month, decided to suspend the entire refereeing staff for an “indefinite period”.

“The committee decided to investigate the incident when Mohamed Farouk, the referee of the match, used a mobile phone to review footage of the match’s events,” the Egyptian FA added.

Suez scored their third goal shortly after the disallowed goal to seal a 3-1 win, with 15 minutes of stoppage time being played.

Farouk left the pitch under police protection, amid protests from Al-Nasr players and officials, who have threatened to take legal action against the referee for violating the regulations.