Abdulaziz Ashour

KUWAIT CITY, May 14: Al-Arabi Club President Abdulaziz Ashour expressed strong dissatisfaction with the refereeing decisions during the current Zain Premier League season, claiming that officiating errors played a key role in denying his team the league title.

Ashour specifically pointed to controversial incidents in several matches, saying, “In our first-leg match against Kuwait Club, the referee sent off our Mauritanian professional Abdullah Mahmoud after we were awarded a foul. Ironically, Abdullah was the one fouled, yet he received the red card.”

He continued, “There was another case where a Kuwait Club player who had already received a yellow card committed another offense that warranted a second yellow—and consequently a red card. However, the referee instead chose to show a yellow card to Hussein Ashkanani to avoid sending off the Kuwait Club player.”

Ashour also criticized Mexican referee Ramos, who officiated its game against Al-Qadsiya. Ramos issued multiple yellow cards, eventually making it easy to send off Hassan Hamdan. He also refereed our decisive game against Kuwait Club and distributed yellow cards to several players. During halftime, players told me he was handing out cards excessively. We also had a clear penalty shout for Jumaa Aboud that went ignored.”

He added, “Even earlier in the match, we were denied another penalty, and the referee failed to consult VAR. It’s clear to me now that this referee knew exactly what he was doing. I’m convinced we were robbed of the match.”

Ashour held the Kuwait Football Association accountable for what he described as a "refereeing injustice" and expressed hope that the federation would not impose harsh penalties on Al-Arabi in light of the post-match events.