There was a late penalty claim from Al Ahly in their African Football League semi-final second leg against Mamelodi Sundowns, but an Egyptian referee expert has explained why referee Issa Sy made the right call to dismiss it.
Sundowns progressed the AFL final after eliminating Al Ahly 1-0 on aggregate, following a hard-fought goalless draw in Cairo on Wednesday evening.
But things could’ve been different, had Senegalese referee Issa Sy listened to the VAR official, who had instructed him to take a look at a situation when the ball appeared to strike Sphelele Mkhulise’s arm on the edge of the penalty area in the 93rd minute.
The match official, who had first given a free-kick outside the area, opted against changing his decision to a penalty and even overruled his initial call after viewing the VAR footage – the right call, according to the Egyptian expert.
“The VAR called referee because the ball is on the line of penalty area,” expert referee Yasser Abdel Raouf said on OnTime Sports as translate by iDiski Times.
“So if it is hand ball it means a penalty. The referee found the ball touching the hand of defender. But it is not handball as the player didn’t move his hand towards the ball.
“So when the referee found out that he cancelled the free-kick and the penalty.”
Sundown processed and will now face Wydad AC in the two-legged final on 5 November in Casablanca and on 11 November in South Africa.
