Cairo, Egypt – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has settled the controversy surrounding the Egyptian Premier League title for last season. This came after it issued its ruling rejecting the appeal submitted by Egyptian club Pyramids FC and confirming Al Ahly’s right to the championship.
Abdullah Shehata, the legal advisor for Al Ahly’s football sector, announced via the club’s official website that the ruling was officially received on Tuesday evening. He explained that the 29-page decision rejected the opposing team’s appeal and ordered them to pay the costs and fees.
Al Ahly had won the league title after finishing the season with 58 points, two points ahead of Pyramids in second place.
The crisis stems from Al Ahly’s withdrawal from their match against Zamalek in the first round of the second leg of the competition. This came in protest against the club’s refusal to appoint a foreign refereeing team for the match.
As a result, the competitions committee decided to deduct 6 points from the team’s tally, 3 points for being considered defeated in the match. An additional 3 points were also deducted at the end of the season.
However, the league later amended its decision, opting to deduct only the match points without applying the additional three-point penalty. This prompted Pyramids to file an official complaint, arguing that applying the full penalty would have resulted in them being crowned champions, as Al Ahly’s points tally would have dropped to 55.
Pyramids FC also requested that CAS suspend the announcement of the league champion until a ruling is issued on the complaint, but the court rejected this request. This was due to the lack of any justifiable grounds for such a measure.
With this decision, the Court of Arbitration for Sport officially closes the chapter on the crisis, confirming Al-Ahly’s crowning as champions of the Egyptian League for last season.
