DUBAI // Cosmin Olaroiu railed against the officials following Al Ahli’s two-goal surrender against Al Nasr on Thursday night, claiming the referee “invented” a penalty that denied his side the victory.
The Arabian Gulf League champions, still harbouring faint hopes of a top-four finish, seemed set for three points at the Rashid Stadium once Ahmed Khalil and Oussama Assaidi had given them a 2-0 lead.
However, Nasr pulled a goal back on 69 minutes through Hussain Abbas’s unmarked header, before Mahmoud Khamis converted from the spot to earn the visitors a 2-2 draw.
Referee Yaqoub Al Hammadi awarded the penalty for Kwon Kyung-won’s apparent tussle with Brett Holman, although replays appeared to showed the Nasr captain was in an offside position when the free-kick – a decision that also angered Olaroiu – was taken. Both Holman and Kwon appeared to be guilty of jostling with one another.
Olaroiu has criticised Al Hammadi before, most recently ahead of last month’s Super Cup clash with Al Ain, when the Romanian said he warned his players “to be prepared to deal with [Al Hammadi’s] decisions”.
Olaroiu was sent to the stands towards the conclusion of the match, the second time this season Al Hammadi has taken that action against him.
“I knew Mr Yaqoub Al Hammadi wanted to take revenge against me and that he would do something,” Olaroiu said. “I have two big problems: first, he doesn’t know the rules – this is very bad – and second, he came to be the referee after what he did in Al Shabab against Al Ahli and nobody punished him.
“Nobody showed him or taught him that he made a big mistake. This is the problem, because this means he’s covered by someone.
“When the referee makes a decision like he did today, it is a shame for me. We expected him to do something against us, but not in this way. He has to learn the rules, and also those who judge him have to know the rules.”
Olaroiu said Al Hammadi granted Nasr the penalty because they were struggling to trouble the hosts.
“It did not exist,” Olaroiu said. “He invented it. He did it and everyone knows why he did it. When he saw that they didn’t have any chances, that they couldn’t approach our goal, he invented something. This is the worst thing. We had an Asian Champions League game last week, which was for us was good for morale before this match. You cannot then do this to us. But [the match assessors] will come and say, ‘Oh, very good referee, no mistakes’.
“He has to learn the rules. If you don’t know the rules, how do you come to be a referee? There are many good referees here with a good future, but ...
“I tell the truth, only what I see. And I know for sure it’s not a penalty.”
Holman, meanwhile, was not aware, post-match, that the penalty had been given for a foul against him. At the time, the Nasr forward did not appeal.
“You come together in the penalty box and at the end of the day he put his arm around my neck, grabbed me and pulled me back,” he said. “I presume it looks pretty bad on the replay. If it’s for me, I’d say it’s a penalty, but I’m obviously being biased.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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