Belmadi hails Swiss ref’s performance

LEKHWIYA coach Djamel Belmadi was all praise for Swiss referee Sandro Scharer, who officiated their match against Al Rayyan.

“I can comment on the ref’s performance because I hardly benefited from his decisions,” said Belmadi.

“If you see, he awarded a penalty against us and showed a red card to Mohammed Tresor. But all his decisions were fair. The most important thing was that there weren’t any soft decisions. He opted for advantage and let the game flow. I’m not being critical of local officials, but I think they can learn from referees elsewhere,” said the Algerian.

“If you’ve noticed, (Rodrigo) Tabata fell near the box early in the first half and claimed a free-kick. Based on my six years’ experience in Qatar, I can tell you that a local referee would’ve awarded it and punished our player. Instead, Tabata was punished for dive.

“Last season, Rayyan’s (Victor) Caceres scored a goal against us by using his hand. It wasn’t so complicated like Maradona’s Hand of God goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal against England, visible to everyone. But two officials standing close to him didn’t see it.

“In the last match against Khor, the penalty decision against us wasn’t right at all. Decisions like that shouldn’t happen in professional football,” added Belmadi.