An Egyptian referee has been suspended after using a fan's mobile phone in the absence of a video assistant referee to disallow a vital goal in a Second Division match ©Getty Images

Egyptian referee Mohamed Farouk has been suspended indefinitely after using a crowd member's mobile phone to disallow a goal in the Egyptian football Second Division match between Suez Sporting Club and Al Nasr Sporting Club.

Vitor Pereira, head of the Egyptian Referees Committee, decided to suspend the official, alongside the entire refereeing staff for unspecified amount of time, according to the Egyptian Football Association (EFA).

"The Committee decided to investigate the incident when Mohamed Farouk, the referee of the match, used a mobile phone to review one of the footage of the match's events," the EFA said in a statement.

Farouk used the phone after a protest by Suez that a handball occurred during Al Nasr's equaliser to make the score 2-2.

Video assistant refereeing is used to decide whether there is an incident in the game that's worth overturning ©Getty Images
Video assistant refereeing is used to decide whether there is an incident in the game that's worth overturning ©Getty Images

Due to the video assistant referee not being available in the Second Division, Farouk decided to use a different approach, causing outrage by Al Nasr and its fans after the goal was ruled out, which led to the referee needing a police escort to leave the stadium.

The match had15 minutes of stoppage time, where Suez scored once again to win 3-1.

Al Nasr officials have threaten to take legal action against the referee for breaching the rules.