THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 SPORTS Protests put Asian referees on the spot SEOUL: A rash of complaints about con- penalties in the 81st and 87th minutes Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors against and on their way to a 3-1 win, Brazil’s O times, the referees’ decisions are troversial decisions has put Asia’s foot- by Qatar’s Khamis Al Marri. They scored Shanghai SIPG in the AFC Champions Globo newspaper gratefully ran the unknowable. In Indonesia there is still ball referees on the spot despite strenu- both to win 2-1. League quarter-finals. However, the inci- headline “Arigato” (“Thank you” in the same bad quality of refereeing as six ous efforts to raise standards. Such controversies are hardly new to dent was quickly forgotten as Jeonbuk Japanese). years ago as referees are scared to make Japan and Thailand both lodged offi- football, but they have raised fresh ques- went on to win 5-0. Later that year, Nishimura was again big decisions.” cial protests after key decisions went tions about refereeing standards as under fire when he turned down Al Ghotbi said that while improvements against them in this month’s World Cup Asian football strives to match other ‘ARIGATO’ Hilal’s repeated penalty appeals in their have been made in Asian officiating, qualifiers, while standards are mixed at regions. Former Iran coach Afshin The Kuala Lumpur-based Asian AFC Champions League final defeat to more could be done. club level. Japan were incensed after Ghotbi, who has also taken charge of Football Confederation refused to com- Western Sydney Wanderers. “Compared to... other continents, Takuma Asano’s shot crossed the line clubs in Thailand and Japan, said referee ment on individual referees. But it has The Saudi club issued an angry state- there are differences in judgement of against the United Arab Emirates, but selection was a sensitive area. After been increasingly active in referee devel- ment alleging corruption and calling the referees, their management and interac- went unnoticed by Qatari ref Japan’s “ghost goal” in Saitama, Japanese opment and education, holding semi- game a “black spot in the history of tion with players and coaches,” he said. Abdulrahman Al Jassim. They lost the fans on social media questioned nars and courses all over the continent. Asian football” which had “looted the “Most judgement errors has to do game 2-1. whether the Arabic-speaking Qatari ref- Strides have been made. Ravshan rights of an entire nation”. with experience and understanding the And Thailand complained when eree was biased in favour of the UAE. Irmatov of Uzbekistan has taken charge In a continent which has endured a context of the game... obviously, there is China’s Fu Ming awarded a penalty in the “Assigning an official from an Arabic- of World Cup semi-finals and quarter- litany of match-fixing scandals, suspi- a longer history of professional football closing minutes of their qualifier against speaking country close to the UAE in a finals, and Iran’s Alireza Faghani officiat- cions of corruption are never far away. in other regions, and Asian football is Saudi Arabia, which consigned them to a game between Japan and UAE placed ed at the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medal But Alfred Riedl, coach of Indonesia trying to close the gap.” 1-0 defeat in Riyadh. unnecessary pressure on the officiating match. One high-profile outing didn’t go with spells in Vietnam, Laos, Palestine China also complained about a disal- “The penalty was not our mistake. In team,” Ghotbi told AFP. so well. In the opening match of the and Kuwait, said sometimes the quality lowed goal in the 0-0 draw with Hong fact, in the first half, we should have “Confederations can improve by 2014 World Cup, Japan’s Yuichi of refereeing is simply not good enough. Kong in November which appeared to been awarded a penalty,” Thai coach assigning officials to matches to elimi- Nishimura was roundly criticised when “The standard of referees in have torpedoed their World Cup qualify- Kiatisuk Senamuang told reporters. nate even a hint of influence or bias.” he gave Brazil a highly disputable penal- Southeast Asia is simply not adequate ing campaign. But, as is the way with Five days later, Saudi Arabia were Al Jassim was later criticised for disal- ty against Croatia. and is often really bad,” Riedl told AFP. such protests, the result was allowed to trailing Iraq 1-0 until they were awarded lowing an apparently legitimate goal for After it put the misfiring hosts 2-1 up “Everyone makes mistakes but too many stand. — AFP Sevilla tops Real Betis in Spanish league derby MADRID: Sevilla provisionally moved to “We played with intensity and had our second place in the Spanish league after chances, but we let them score on a set defeating Real Betis 1-0 in the Seville derby piece. A lot of times matches like this are on Tuesday. decided on details. We didn’t have luck on Argentine defender Gabriel Mercado our side.” Betis stayed with five points, scored the winning goal from a free kick dropping to 13th in the standings. delivered by midfielder Samir Nasri in the 51st minute at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan MALAGA 2, EIBAR 1 Stadium. Mercado redirected the ball just Teenage Moroccan striker Youssef En- enough to beat goalkeeper Antonio Adan. Nesyri scored a 76th-minute winner to give “It was a great atmosphere,” Mercado Malaga its first league victory. said. “I’m incredibly happy to have experi- Nano put the visitors ahead from inside enced this, scoring a goal and helping the the area in the 42nd but Sandro equalized team earn this victory.” for Malaga two minutes later and En-Nesyri Sevilla reached 11 points with its third sealed the win by curling a left-foot shot win in five games, moving to within a point into the far corner after a breakaway. The of leader Real Madrid, which hosts Villarreal 19-year-old Moroccan, one of Malaga’s on Wednesday with a chance to win its fifth most promising players, was making his match in a row. Third-place Barcelona, first-team debut at home. three points behind Madrid, plays fifth- Malaga had lost two in a row after con- place Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou. secutive draws in its first two games. It pro- Just two minutes after Sevilla took the visionally moved to 12th in the 20-team lead, Real Betis had a goal by Alex Alegria standings with five points from as many disallowed because of offside, although matches. Eibar hadn’t lost since a 2-1 result replays indicated it should have counted. at Deportivo La Coruna in its opener. The “We didn’t deserve to lose this match,” Basque club remains seventh in the stand- Real Betis midfielder Joaquin Sanchez said. ings with seven points. — AP LIVERPOOL: Everton’s Enner Valencia, front, and Norwich City’s Youssouf Mulumbu battle for the ball during the English League Cup, Third Round soccer match between Everton and Norwich City at Goodison Park, Liverpool. England, Tuesday. — AP Fabregas downs Leicester SEVILLA: Sevilla supporters display a giant banner before the Spanish league foot- ball match Sevilla FC vs Real Betis at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Sevilla as Everton crash out on Tuesday. Sevilla won 1-0. — AFP LONDON: Cesc Fabregas made an emphatic lead in the 10th minute before Bournemouth Chuba Akpom. Perez got his second in the 71st PSG claims French league top point to Chelsea manager Antonio Conte as his equalised through Lewis Grabban’s 53rd minute minute and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got double sealed a 4-2 win at Leicester, while penalty. Dan Gosling put the hosts ahead from Arsenal’s fourth in stoppage time. spot with win against Caen Everton and Bournemouth suffered shock third- close range in the 76th minute, only for “It was a motivated team against us and we round exits from the English Football League Makienok to force extra-time in the 85th minute had a complete performance. The speed and PARIS: Edinson Cavani scored his sixth league LILLE 1, TOULOUSE 2 Cup yesterday. and then win it for Simon Grayson’s men in the movement of our play was fantastic,” Wenger goal of the season and teammate Lucas net- After not scoring in the French league for Fabregas has been limited to three substitute 111th minute. Lucas Perez’s first goals for purred. Liverpool, last year’s beaten finalists, ted his fourth as Paris Saint-Germain returned 15 months, Swedish striker Ola Toivonen end- appearances in the Premier League since Conte Arsenal inspired a 4-0 rout of second-tier remain on course for a return to Wembley after a to the top of the French league with a 3-0 vic- ed his goal drought in style, netting twice as took charge over the summer, but the Spain Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. 3-0 win against Championship side Derby at the tory over newly-promoted Dijon on Tuesday. his new club Toulouse won 2-1 at Lille. midfielder proved he can still be a game-chang- Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who has never iPro Stadium. Estonia centre-back Ragnar Klavan Following a stuttering start to the season, Toivonen spent last season on loan from er with an influential display capped by the deci- won the League Cup, made 11 changes from the took advantage of poor Derby defending to fire the four-time defending champions followed Rennes at Premier League side Sunderland sive two goals in extra-time. team that thrashed Hull on Saturday and the home in the 24th minute.