Penalty call mars Zamalek's thrilling win over Al Ahly Bank

Another wave of controversy exploded after Zamalek's narrow 3-2 victory over Al Ahly Bank in the Egyptian Premier League opener. In injury time, Zamalek's Nasser Mansi had tussled with defender Sayed Abdullah "Neymar" inside the box and had immediately called for a handball review. After a VAR review, referee Mohamed Adel had pointed to the spot for Zamalek and allowed the veteran Abdullah Al-Saeed to seal the result.

After the match, the game broadcaster Ibrahim Fayek released the audio clip, which was aired on MBC Egypt, recording Adel's communication with the VAR officials during the review. In the clip, VAR official Mido Salama claimed there could be a handball, while Adel sounded to doubt it in his voice and asked for normal speed and gave the penalty, which many have debated.

Later, Adel defended himself saying that the audio broadcast was "doctored and false", announcing lawsuits against the program.