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Competition to win EFL shows an ugly face

A senior UAE Fifa referee accused the coaches of some of the First Division clubs of ignorance of the law of the game as competition to win the title of the Etisalat Football League is showing its ugly face.

  • By Yasir Abbasher
  • Published: 17:51 February 7, 2008
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: A senior UAE Fifa referee accused the coaches of some of the First Division clubs of ignorance of the law of the game as competition to win the title of the Etisalat Football League is showing its ugly face.

In the past 10 weeks of the competition, the referees showed 249 players the yellow card, sent off 21 and the players scored 200 goals in 60 matches.

The cautioning and sending off were not adequate for the teams which are expected to commence the UAE Professional League next season as the average is 3.3 goals per match against 4.15 yellow cards and 2.1 red cards per week.

The local referees were accused for many years for over protecting the players which at some times were one big disadvantage for the UAE national teams because the players were expecting referees to whistle in every physical touch against them.

UAE Fifa referee, Farid Ali, thinks that the number of yellow and red cards is ordinary and says that “ It is expected bearing in mind the competition and the enthusiasm of the players to collect the full points of each match. There are 249 yellow cards and 21 red but there are other players who should have been cautioned or sent off but the referees, during the matches, took other decisions.'' Farid told Gulf News yesterday.

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