Urgent: Pressure pushes clubs to use foreign referee

Million dirhams the cost of the foreign whistle in 6 domestic matches only

  • Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs showed a red card to Al Wahda player Abdullah Al-Karbi. Cinematographer: Najeeb Mohamed

  • Abdullah Al-Ajil: «The foreign referees who were recruited did not fall into errors or refereeing decisions affecting the results of the matches».

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The cost of foreign referees in only six matches in local competitions so far has reached one million and 20 thousand dirhams, as the club that requests a foreign referee staff for its match bears 170 thousand dirhams, whether in the ADNOC Professional League, the President's Cup or the Super Cup, and the amount will be expected to rise with seven crucial rounds remaining in the league.

The summit match between Al Wahda and Al Ain, which was held yesterday at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, within the 19th round of the ADNOC Professional League, witnessed the sixth appearance of the foreign referee in the current season, as it was managed by a refereeing team led by Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs.

The first appearance of the foreign whistle was in the match between Sharjah and Al Wahda in the eighth round of the league, through the Hungarian referee Tamash Bojnar, and managed the match between Sharjah and Al Wahda in the final of the New Zealand Cup Matthew Conger, and managed the meeting of Shabab Al Ahli and Al Wahda in the round of 32 of the Spanish Cup Guillermo Fernandez, and Polish referee Simon Marciniak managed the summit of Sharjah and Al Ain in the Super Cup.

It is noteworthy that the Football Association specified for the club the use of foreign referee in a maximum of four matches during the season, knowing that it had specified last season for professional clubs to use the foreign whistle in a maximum of two matches, either in the President's Cup or the league.

At the level of Serie A clubs, the club has the right to use a foreign referee in only one match in the President's Cup.

For his part, the former international referee in football, Abdullah Al-Ajil to «Emirates Today», that «pressure makes some clubs use foreign referees, although local referees perform this season a good refereeing performance», explaining that «the continued presence of foreign referee in local matches comes in the presence of large matches and (derbies) between clubs».

He added, "The foreign referees who were attracted had a very high level of refereeing in the management of the matches they led, and they did not fall into errors or refereeing decisions affecting the results of the matches," considering that "the presence of the foreign whistle in the UAE league hijacked the stardom of the national referees."

"If the performance of the national referees is high during their leadership of the various matches, this will reduce the chances of the foreign referee appearing in the league."

Al-Ajil called on local referees to develop their refereeing levels, so that the foreign referee does not take stardom from them, as he put it.

Matches officiated by foreign referees since the start of the current
season

1- Al Ain and Al Wahda (sixth round of the league): Portuguese Artur Suarez.

2- Sharjah and Al Wahda (eighth round of the league): Hungarian Tamash Bojnar.

3- Sharjah and Al Wahda (Cup Final): New Zealand's Matthew Conger.

4- Shabab Al-Ahli and Al-Wahda (Round of 32 of the Cup): Guillermo Fernandez.

5- Sharjah and Al Ain (Super Cup): Poland's Simon Marciniak.

6- Al Wahda and Al Ain (Round 19 of the League): Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs.