According to Egyptian media, the head coach of Zamalek club, Portuguese José Peseiro, decided to exclude Mustafa Shlabi from the squad for the match against Al-Ahly. The newspaper El-Youm El-Sabea reported: "The coaching staff of Zamalek has penalized Mustafa Shlabi, and also excluded him from the next match with Al-Ahly because he protested against substitutions in the match with Modern Sport in Egypt."
Zamalek is in third place in the Egyptian league table with 32 points, while Al-Ahly occupies the second spot with 39 points.
