The Egyptian Football Association has announced that Mahmoud Wadi will be banned for eight matches as a result of his sending off in Pyramids FC’s last league match against El-Entag El-Harby. The Palestinian Striker had been sent off following a VAR review in the 89th minute. The eight match ban also comes with a fine of 100,000 Egyptian Pounds ($6,370).
As the ban is more than six games Pyramids FC and the player can file an appeal. Pyramids FC’s Sporting Director, Hany Said, confirmed yesterday that the club will appeal during an interview with ONTimeSports.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ar" dir="rtl">مداخلة هامة من هاني سعيد المدير الرياضي لنادي بيراميدز يكشف حقيقة رحيل محمد فاروق والمهدي سليمان عن الفريق ورأيه في عقوبة اللاعب محمود وادي "مش هقف جنبه لو هو غلطان"<a href="http://twitter.com/hashtag/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A1_ONTime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#مساء_ONTime</a><a href="http://twitter.com/hashtag/ONTime_Sports?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ONTime_Sports</a> <a href="http://t.co/dRnonBuJvp">pic.twitter.com/dRnonBuJvp</a></p>— OnTime Sports (@ONTimeSports) <a href="http://twitter.com/ONTimeSports/status/1346567802455535616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The suspension was doled out to Mahmoud Wadi not because of the nature of the challenge but rather because he was accused of insulting the referee. The player and the club maintain that Wadi exited the pitch immediately as to not waste any time as Pyramids FC attempted to chase the game (they were down 2-1 at the time but won 3-2).
Hany Said stood by his player telling ONTime Sports “I would not stand up for him if he were in the wrong.”
Wadi was a 77th minute substitute in Pyramid’s FC 3-2 victory over Al-Ittihad in the CAF Confederations Cup.
Pyramids FC have been churning out enough results early in Rodolfo Arrubarena’s tenure to keep the pressure off; but stylistically the team remains a work in progress.
The Argentine manager has rotated players at Wadi’s position with John Antwi getting the majority of the minutes. Dodo El-Gabbas got the start yesterday and became the first striker to score a goal this season after six competitive fixtures.
