Obaid calls for professional supervision

Dubai: Defending champions Al Shabab have called for more professionalism for match officials involved with the running of the new UAE Football League (UFL).

"Everything else is professional this year, but the referees are not...the circle seems to be incomplete without this," team manager Obaid Al Hubaitha told Gulf News.

"From this season, the teams are all professional, the players have proper professional contracts with each club and so do the managers and the officials. Then why is it that only the referees and the match officials are amateurs?" Al Hubaitha queried. Al Shabab was at the receiving end last week - round two of the UFL - when they went down 2-4 to Sharjah. "I do not want to be critical of the referees, but so many people told us that some of the decisions during the game were simply unfair," Al Hubaitha stated.

Sharjah was awarded two penalties in their 4-2 win over the defending champions, while Al Shabab felt they had been unfairly denied at least one spot kick by referee Ali Al Mulla.

To further compound their problems, coach Toninho Cerezo received a red card for asking one of his players whether he was tired. The Brazilian spoke in Portuguese and the fourth official misinterpreted Cerezo's question to his player as a swear word. "That was really unfortunate for us as a team," Al Hubaitha shrugged.

Local talent

Al Hubaitha, himself a long-serving defender with the UAE national team and Al Shabab, is all for encouraging local talent among referees and match officials. "Referees all over the world make mistakes and that is very much a part of the game. But the UAE FA has to ensure they select the right official for the right game," Al Hubaitha stated.

Driving home this point, the Al Shabab team manager disclosed how referees have to travel long distances through heavy traffic on the day of the match itself, and that too, after completing their regular duties. "They are human too, and they need to be treated well. How do you expect an official who has to travel from Fujairah to Dhafrah to give off his best during the 90 minutes?" he asked.

"I am not saying that I am against UAE referees. On the contrary, it gives me great pleasure to see one of our referees officiate at the highest level of the game."

One of the experiments Al Hubaitha suggested is that the UAE FA can have an ongoing exchange of officials between Gulf countries. "We could have referees travelling from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait to come over and officiate at our games, and we could do the same for their leagues," Al Hubaitha suggested.