Egyptian referee Gehad Gerisha is a FIFA listed referee since 2005 and capped off year 2016 with a tremendous achievement at the top by earning nomination for the Africa Referee of the Year award for an event that took place on the 5th of January 2017 in Nigeria.
Being one of CAF’s elite officials, Gerisha was tasked with taking charge of football’s biggest matches and was the man in the middle for the 2017 Africa Super Cup match between Mamelodi Sundowns and TP Mazembe.
Even with his tight schedule across Africa the Cairo based referee still spared some time to talk to soka25east about his journey in refereeing.
Please tell us who is Gehad Gerisha?
I am humble and confident man who always wants to stick my hands on things that i do to get best results. I was born in 1975 at a place called Dandit in Meet Ghamr which is part of Dakahlya governorate.
I am a public relations administrator where i serve as sport activity official in an Oil Company here in Egypt.
I am married and blessed with two girls and one boy.My last born is Nardin who is seven years.Other are Rinad who recently turned 13 years and Eyad who celebrated his 10th birthday late last year.
Take us through your journey as a referee
I fell i love with football sometimes back when i played with Mahla club in Mokawlin Tanta.My next choice was to take up refeering where i started in 1997 at Gharbia Governorate .
How has been your experience to the top?
After realizing i wouldn’t be a proffesional footballer,i made progress and received my first rank as referee in May 2005.
It was not until six months later that people started noticing me and that is when i handled my first match in the first division league back in October 2005.That game was between Arab Contractors and Haras El-Hodood.
Tell us about other experiences in your career?
I was happy to become an international referee in January 2008.I remember my first international match was during Sadaka friendly tournament in Qatar.
From there i was promoted to become African Elite referee in 2011 and i was the man at the centre during Tolouse international friendly tournament in 2009.Then AFCON 2012 where i officiated Equatorial Guinea versus Gabon match.
Another international experience was during the National Arab Teams tournament Saudi Arabia.It was followed by 2013 AFCON that took place in South Africa later Equatorial Guinea 2014 CHAN where i remember taking charge of the 3rd place match.
Apart from Afcon which other big stage have you officiated?
In 2015 i was one of the referees selected to officiate U-20 World Cup in where i was in charge of three matches.
Apart from that during the Rio Olympics in 2016 i had a good experience whereby i was incharge of two matches.The most big one was the quarter final match.
Then most recently i was the centre referee at the just concluded 2017 Super Cup that took place in South Africa.It was the big game between Mamelodi Sundowns and TP Mazembe.
Which other focus do you have now?
I will be taking part in a seminar for Russia World Cup 2018 where i will be travelling to Italy where the event will take place from 3rd to 7th April.
What are your future plans?
My love to my country Egypt motivates me to be best referee.
African refereeing has reached a position that is trusted by Fifa now.You can see now African referees now officiate important matches in Fifa matches unlike previous times.
My dream is to participate in Russia World Cup in 2018 and reach the utmost top point.
Which was your most difficult match that you ever officiated and what is your mesage to the upcoming referees?
The most difficult match i offciated was the first leg of the CAF Champions league in 2015 between USMA od Algeria and TP Mazimbe.Also semi final of Champions league between Staif and TP Mazembe
My message to upcoming referees is that they have to work hard and sacrifice time,money and effort to achieve their goals.In my opinion these words are easy but working hard is the only way to achieve your ambitions and goals.Every goal can be obtained with patience and exert efforts whatever challenges and difficulties you face.
–Additional reporting by Mohamed Korime
