‘Men in black must protect the game’
AL SHAHANIYA coach Igor Stimac questioned the standard of refereeing in the Qatar Stars League (QSL) as he picked out bad decisions by officials as the main reason for his side’s current position.
“(Bad) Refereeing is the main reason for our reversals. I joined Shahaniya halfway through the competition and I got time to rightly prepare the team only in the last three weeks due to the international break. I can’t judge what happened before. During my 12 games in charge, we lost eight points because of bad refereeing. I’m not talking about small fouls, but the penalties we were denied and goals we conceded from direct free-kicks, which actually weren’t free-kicks,” said Stimac, who was sent off by Saud Al Athba in the 75th minute during their game against Al Khor.
The Croat said the officials should protect the game in Qatar.
“I’m sad because of the bad performances of referees. I think they should protect football and follow the same criteria for everybody. They shouldn’t look who’s the bigger or financially-better team. If you don’t start doing it, the league won’t improve,” he said.
The former Croatia and West Ham defender said Shahaniya deserved to stay in top flight.
“Shahaniya deserved to be in the QSL. We’re one team which puts many Qatari players on the pitch in all games. We fielded 19-year-old Abdulrahman Naji, who showed he can play for the national team in the future,” added Stimac.
