CAIRO (Reuters) – A referee ruled out a late goal after using a mobile phone to review an incident during a second division match in Egypt on Friday.
With the video assistant referee system (VAR) not operated in second-tier games, referee Mohamed Farouk had to use the phone of a crowd member during the match between Suez and Al-Nasr.
Al-Nasr thought they had scored a late equaliser, but the hosts protested due to a hand ball, and after a long time spent reviewing the video on the phone, the referee decided to rule out the goal.
Fifteen minutes of stoppage time were added and Suez won the game 3-1.
The referee left the pitch under police protection, amid protests from Al-Nasr players and officials, who threatened to take legal action against the referee for violating the regulations.
(Reporting by Osama Khairy, Writing by Ahmed Mostafa, editing by Ed Osmond)
