Egypt fears Ghandour will be made ref scapegoat (24.06.2002)
Egyptian referee Gamal El Ghandour has been warned he could become a victim of Fifa politics after disallowing two Spain goals in the World Cup quarter-final.
"I hope he doesn`t pay the price for our FA voting against Sepp Blatter," said ex-Egypt star Taher Abu Zeid.
Fifa reacted to the controversy following Spain`s defeat to South Korea by admitting referees have made "one or two major mistakes"during the World Cup.
Blatter himself called for a review of the whole refereeing system - and there are fears in Egypt that El Ghandour will be made a scapegoat.
"He is one of the best referees in the tournament," said Taher Abu Zeid, who represented Egypt in the 1990 World Cup finals. "But he had two weak linesmen.
"I hope he doesn`t pay the price of Fifa mistakes or for the decision of the Egyptian FA to stand by Issa
Hayatou against Blatter in the Fifa presidential elections," he concluded.
Blatter was the subject to corruption allegations from the Hayatou camp before his re-election prior to the World Cup and divisions remain deep within football`s governing body.
El Ghandour came to the World Cup with a glowing reputation after refereeing this year`s African Nations Cup final and becoming the first African to officiate at the European Championships in 2000.
However, he has been heavily criticised in Spain for ruling out Ruben Baraja`s second-half effort for shirt-pulling, then chalking off Fernando Morientes` extra-time strike after the assistant referee incorrectly ruled that Joaquin allowed the ball to go out of play.
The World Cup has been marred by controversial refereeing decisions, with Italy pointing to a conspiracy in favour of South Korea.
