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While the officiating error and the aftermath of the match between Al Fayhah and Al Ahly did not come as a “surprise” to me, and those who described it as “shocking” were not being “honest”, as if it was the first time they could not understand the shock, this kind of officiating scandal is not new, but rather one of the consequences of the failed committee of the Football Association, led by Yasser Al Meshal. According to Yasser Al Meshal, despite the fact that the issue has come to light, it is still determined and insists on its survival and continuation, and it is no longer possible to remain silent about it.
– Read carefully the scenes between clubs preferring Saudi referees over foreign referees this season. On the other hand, only Al Hilal Club is different. Foreign referees are also required to be invited for matches held outside the home stadium, but this raises questions. Why did the Hilal government take this position, and at the same time did other clubs take different positions regarding foreign referees?
– According to the constructed perspective, there must be hidden secrets behind the Hilary government’s confidence in foreign governance rather than its confidence in Saudi governance. This may be due to their weakness and lack of experience, or to their doubts about the commission’s activities and the signs, doubts and mysteries that surround it and what is going on behind the scenes. They found what they were looking for in foreign rule, even though it was materially more expensive and occupied a larger proportion than in Saudi rule.
Similarly, there must be a hidden “secret” among the management of other clubs that led them to use Saudi referees, even though they had been against the idea in the past few seasons. So why did foreign referees become less desirable and local referees preferred in their eyes? Is the reason for this due to the financial costs that have ballooned since the start of this season, or do they have “questions” about the committee, which has made more serious mistakes than the local government and has suffered much damage as a result, yet does not improve the selection of referees?
– If we examine this conflict and contradiction of positions, we can see that its focus is centered on the commission, and its failures have left repercussions both domestically and internationally. Perhaps it is what we have seen in the past and what we are seeing today that proves this difference in position and lack of trust. That hasn’t changed, and it confirms that it hasn’t, and that the problem lies with the committees not doing their job, and the reins seem to have recently been “taken off” from the unions who continue to participate on the sidelines and who without the slightest doubt are responsible for the bulk of the work of the committees in these travesties. In fact, I can say it. Other committees have not been able to keep up with sports, economic and investment projects on which the state has spent billions of riyals.
– A real and eternal problem that must be recognized, and one that has spread the scent of its failure to the committee, is the Saudi Football Federation. In the past, this failure was limited to local frameworks, but now “everyone who wasn’t watching is paying attention.” Rather than directly blaming referee Mohamed Ismail, fourth referee Abdul Rahman Al-Sultan, and referee Abdullah Al Shehri for the mouse technique, let’s ask why referee Mohammad Ismail made such a serious mistake. And we rejoiced when we heard the good news. Why it started so well for him, and why, after the feign of a red card and subsequent sending off, he forced referee Abdul Rahman Al Sultan to revert to mediation practices, and why the VAR referee dared to be indifferent and cause a mediation error, depriving Al Ahly of their rightful right to win, and then allowing the competition to continue without any harassment.
– Last but not least, the story is not over yet and there is another part about the arbitration farce with foreign or Saudi referees under the commission where the failure occurred and the federation, which was completely satisfied with it and remained silent in the pretext of not interfering with the commission’s activities and decisions… This is an excuse uglier than the sin, it is more like an abdication of responsibility and an escape from the burden of responsibility under the heading of “professionalization”.
