Gehad Zaglol Grisha (; born 29 February 1976) is an Egyptian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

who refereed in the

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League (), also known as the Nile League () for sponsorship reasons, after the addition of title sponsor Nile Developments, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the highest level of the Egyptian football ...

from 2005 to 2021 and was a FIFA-listed referee from 2008 to 2021. He refereed at five consecutive

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

tournaments between 2012 and 2019, and also officiated at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

Refereeing career

Grisha starting his officiating career in 2004 in the Egyptian Second Division before being promoted to the

in the next season. His first match in the top flight as a referee was on 28 November 2005 between Ismaily and Asyut Cement, which ended as a 4–0 win for Ismaily. Grisha showed only two yellow cards during that match. He made his international debut on 4 June 2009, officiating a match between France U-21 and Qatar U-20 at the 2009 Toulon Tournament. He made his CAF debut on 28 February 2010, appearing at the 2010 CAF Champions League preliminary round second leg match between Al Ahly Benghazi and Djoliba; a match that ended goalless. One year later, on 1 October 2011 at the

2011 CAF Champions League The 2011 CAF Champions League (also known as the 2011 Orange CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 47th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 15th ed ...

, Grisha officiated the semi-final first leg match between

Wydad Casablanca Wydad Athletic Club (, ), often known outside Morocco as Wydad Casablanca, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional football team that competes in Botola, the top tier of the Moroccan football ...

and Enyimba, which ended 1–0 for the Moroccan side. Grisha made his main international debut during the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, officiating a

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

match between

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

as well as the third place match between

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. He was also selected to officiate at the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

, appearing as a

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (also known as a linesman) is an official who assists the referee in administering the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the Laws, at most organised levels ...

in four matches and as main referee in one match. Following the tournament, Grisha became a member of the CAF Elite and was selected to appear at every

tournament since 2013 alongside other CAF competitions. Grisha was selected to officiate the 2014 Egypt Cup Final on 19 July 2014 between

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

and Smouha at 30 June Stadium in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. One red card and four yellow cards were shown during the match, which Zamalek won 1–0. Grisha served as a referee at the

and officiated a match between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. Grisha was the first Egyptian referee to appear at the World Cup since 2006. On 14 August 2021, Grisha officiated his last

game, taking charge of a match involving Ismaily and league leaders

. One week later, Grisha took role of the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

at the 2020 Arab Club Champions Cup Final in Morocco (which was postponed for more than one year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

) between Al Ittihad Jeddah of Saudi Arabia and Moroccan side

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic, widely known as Raja Casablanca or simply Raja, is a Football team, football club based in Casablanca, Morocco, that competes in Botola, the top flight of Moroccan football league system, Moroccan football. Founded on 20 M ...

. The following day, on 22 August 2021, Grisha announced his retirement although being eligible for one more year.

Matches

''Any appearances made as a fourth official or in non-official competitions are not included.''

FIFA World Cup

Africa Cup of Nations

African Nations Championship

Personal life

Grisha works as an employee at a petroleum company in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grisha, Gehad 1976 births Egyptian football referees Living people People from Dakahlia Governorate 2018 FIFA World Cup referees Football referees at the 2016 Summer Olympics