Maradona vows to fight against biased refereeing

Dubai: Diego Maradona has vowed to fight against an alleged refereeing conspiracy, which he says threatens to upturn Al Wasl’s progress this season.

Speaking after his side’s 1-0 win against Al Ain on Saturday night at Zabeel Stadium in the Etisalat Cup, Maradona was defiant in the face of what he sees as gross injustice against his team at the hands of over-zealous and biased officials.

“I want to send a message to the referees – I want to help and support them to improve their standards – but we, the players, staff, administration and fans at Al Wasl will fight against them and overcome their decisions to win whatever happens if they are against us, in order to make our goals a reality,” said Maradona after the Group A match.

Juan Manuel Olivera’s 72kpm/h chest, tap and turn volleyed wonder-strike received from Tariq Hassan’s cross on 59 minutes negated referee Abdullah Al Zaabi’s alleged Al Ain leanings, but after the match Maradona still wasn’t content.

Mimicking similar complaints made after a 1-0 league loss to Al Jazira last week, where Maradona complained that 50-50 decisions made by Hamad Al Hashmi always went in the biggest complainant’s favour, El Diego re-iterated: “When there was a ball between Al Wasl and Al Ain after somebody had fallen, the ball always went directly to Al Ain.”

He also argued the case against feigning injuries, time-wasting and diving in his post-match rant aimed at greater fair play. “I hope the referees improve their standards and become more focused. I don’t want to complain, I genuinely want to help them raise their game,” said Maradona, who could also be aggrieved after Mariano Donda was wrongly adjudged offside on 84 minutes.

He had ended last week’s Al Jazira post-match conference with the view that “a good referee is one that is not noticed throughout the game.”

Cosmin Olaroiu, who was quick to add that nine of his first team players were away on international duty, spoke in favour of the referee.

“I really don’t think the referee was on either Al Ain or Al Wasl’s side. His decisions ultimately didn’t affect the result,” said Olaroiu.

“It was a close match, very tactical and defensive. Hopefully our key players will return for our next cup match [against Al Wasl at home] next week. We will try to win with the players we have available and we will play to qualify regardless.”

Also in Group A on Saturday, leaders Al Jazira romped to a 6-0 win over Emirates. Brazilians Ricardo Oliveira and Bare scored twice each, while Ahmad Juma and Ahmad Barghash completed the scoring with a goal apiece.

In Group B, Al Shabab leap-frogged Ajman to top the table thanks to a 1-0 win over their rivals in Saturday’s other match.

SATURDAY’S ETISALAT CUP RESULTS

Al Shabab 1-0 Ajman
Al Jazira 6-0 Emirates
Al Wasl 1-0 Al Ain