"Mohamed Abou-Taleb confronted me in the dressing room during the halftime break and slapped me," Abdul-Ghaffar told FilGoal.com after the game.

"Some security men witnessed the incident but did nothing. I will file a complaint to the Egyptian FA competitions' committee.

"I preferred not to halt the match in order not to cause any troubles between fans."

Egyptian Cup finalists ENPPI won the game 1-0, thanks to a goal from in-form striker Ahmed Raouf.

Referees often complain about not having enough protection during domestic matches.

Several unfortunate incidents occurred during the past few years in which referees were beaten.

The most prominent one was in a second-division match in 2004 when Olympic president Karam Kordi and several of the players assaulted referee Hamdi Shaaban on the pitch.

Olympic's then-keeper Mohamed Gomaa was handed a life ban while Kordi was prohibited from attending his side's matches during the entire season.