Omani anger against the Qatar match referee
Fans of the Omani national team have vented their anger at the Sri Lankan referee Krishanthi Pereira, following the loss of their team to Qatar (0-1) in the qualifiers for the 2023 Asian Cup and 2022 World Cup finals.
The match was marred by clear refereeing errors, according to sports analysts. The referee struck off a correct goal for the Oman team in the last minutes and overlooked a clear penalty kick for the Omani red, while a questionable penalty kick for the Qatar team was taken to the Omani media and Oman’s goalkeeper Fayez al-Rashidi.
Al-Rashidi said after the match : “We did not succeed in the result of the meeting today despite the good level we presented”.
He added : “I think the goal we scored in today’s match was not an infiltration, neither was a correct penalty kick, and in general I do not say that as a justification or to hang a loss on any candle, but to emphasize that the players of the Omani team did not fall short at all today and played a big match”.
Al-Rashidi said the Omani team’s chances of qualifying after the loss are as follows : “Our chances of qualifying are there, and we need to do more in the period ahead in order to achieve our goal of ascension, in the Afghanistan and Bangladesh matches.
Omani media launched an attack on the Sri Lankan referee after the match, describing him as a failure to manage the match and causing the defeat of the Omani referee, who put in a good performance.
On Twitter, Ebrahim Al-Maqbali, president of the Oman Sohar Club, said : “The farce of arbitration in the sense of the word, thanks to the heroes of Oman.”
Journalist Bader Al-Gheiti posted a “tweet” on his account, saying : “The football association, which is responsible and required to take a stand and register objection to the scandalous refereeing mistakes, is unfair that the team’s efforts were naively misjudged and misjudged more than once.”
Meanwhile, Dawoud Al-Shizawi, former president of Sohar Club, commented : “In short.. Asian football suffers from corruption”.
Qatari journalist Ali Issa agrees with the Omani people : “The Sri Lankan referee is banned for being one of the referees of the Asian elite, Oman national team are oppressed”.
Qatari forward Hassan Khaled al-Heidous scored the only goal of the win for al-Annabi in the 39 minute.
Qatar’s national team won its sixth consecutive and seventh playoff victories against a draw to secure its position in the top spot in Group E with 22 points and secure its qualification for the 2023 Asian Cup final in China.
In contrast, Oman’s tally dropped to 12 points and is in second place. Its hopes of qualifying for the second round were dwindled, but the calculus remains in place for the last two rounds, when Bangladesh and Afghanistan face off.
