Croatian referee Ivan Bebek will officiate the Egypt Premier League game between Al Ahly and Pyramids FC which kicks off at 7pm on Thursday night. The 41 year old has been described as one of Croatia’s best referees and is the only Croatian referee who supervised two UEFA Champions League group stage matches.
The Egyptian Football Association regularly hire foreign referees to take charge of league matches, especially for high profile matches involving the biggest teams such as Al Ahly, Zamalek and lately Pyramids.
Vengeance will be on the minds of league leaders Al Ahly after third placed Pyramids, a big-spending outfit owned by Saudi national Turki Al-Sheikh, the former honorary president of Ahly, defeated them 2-1 in January. The match will be played behind closed doors at the Cairo International Stadium after the Egyptian Football Association refused to allow any fans to attend the highly anticipated match, citing security concerns.
Pyramids will miss a key player in Syria striker Omar Khribin, who was red-carded in the team’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Ittihad of Alexandria last week.
Ahly will also make do without in-form winger Ramadan Sobhi, who was ruled out of the game because of injury.
Sobhi, on loan from English Premier League side Huddersfield Town, has been one of Ahly’s best performers since joining in January.