Whistle Wars: Chamuskas Claims Refereeing Cost Al-Taawoun Against Al-Ahli

Match Recap and Refereeing Controversy

Brazilian coach Briklis Chamuskas criticized referee Mohammed Al-Huwaish after his side's match against Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League.

Cooperation fell 1-2 to Al-Ahli on Wednesday at the Al-Enma Stadium, in the 15th round of the season.

In the post-match press conference, Chamuskas said, "I have been in Saudi Arabia for eight years, and this is the second match I’ve had taken away from me. Dealing with refereeing errors has become normal."

Regarding the penalty for Al-Taawoun, he added, "the opponent’s player deserved a yellow card, but our club does not have the same budgets as the big teams to hire foreign referees, and this affects competitiveness."

He also said that big clubs hire foreign referees, and his side is consistently harmed by local refereeing; as for bringing in foreign referees, they simply do not have the budget.

The Brazilian coach also snapped at a journalist, saying, "That’s a fan’s question, not a media question."

Al-Ahli ultimately won with a second-half stoppage-time penalty, after Al-Taawoun had taken the lead with a penalty near the end of the first half.

The match report notes that Al-Taawoun had an earlier penalty in the first half, which also sparked debate about refereeing consistency.

Punchline: If the whistle came with a receipt, I’d file a refund after halftime.

Punchline: In this league, even the coffee breaks have better refereeing than our budget.