Al-Hilal cry foul over Asian Champions League final refereeing
Saudi club are particularly criticial of Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura who was also criticised at World Cup in Brazil
Saudi club Al-Hilal have furiously demanded a formal probe into the appointment of the referees for the Asian Champions League final, which they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend.
The 13-times Saudi champions were unable to erase a first leg deficit in a 0-0 draw last Saturday in Riyadh, where they had three strong appeals for penalties turned down by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura.
“What happened in the second leg of the AFC Champions League final is a black spot in the history of Asian football,” the club said in a statement.
It was a looting of the right of an entire people who has been waiting for happiness and enjoyment of fair competition
“(It was) a looting of the right of an entire people who has been waiting for happiness and enjoyment of fair competition, which requires dealing seriously with this matter, and punishing who caused that, whatever their positions in AFC, in order to be in good hands and fair competition.”
Nishimura was at the centre of controversy at the World Cup in Brazil earlier this year after awarding the hosts a questionable penalty in the opening game of the tournament against Croatia.
The club also criticised the performance of Iranian referee Alireza Faghani in the first leg, which Al-Hilal lost 1-0 despite dominating for most of the game, and said they should have been awarded a total of six penalties over the two matches.
“It is surprising to appoint a referee for the second leg who was deported from refereeing in the last World Cup as a result of his mistakes during the tournament as well the end of his refereeing career at the end of this game,” the statement continued.
