Essam Abd el-Fatah

Essam Abd El Fatah (Arabic عصام عبد الفتاح, DMG ʿ ʿ Abd al - Fatah Assam; born December 30, 1965 in Cairo ) is an Egyptian airline pilot and FIFA referee.

Fatah is FIFA referee since 2001 and launched his first international match in 2003 when Morocco came across Sierra Leone. It was used at the Olympic Games in Athens, at the Africa Cup of Nations and the Egypt Cup 2004. In 2005 he whistled at the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands and in 2006 at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

With the Football World Cup 2006 in Germany Fatah led the match against Japan and Australia was due to a blatant mistake strongly criticized the detriment of Australia. Since then, he was no longer used in World Cup games, but in games of the Africa Cup of Nations.