Ease of confrontations is behind the absence of the “foreign whistle” at the opening of the league

Former UAE Football Association Board Member and sports analyst Dr. Salim Al Shamsi said that the ease of confrontations and the absence of big and strong matches (derbies) were behind the absence of foreign referees in the first round of the ADNOC Professional League for the 2024-2025 sports season, which concluded last Sunday. He pointed out that the big teams in the league expected to win their matches in this round because they were easy, indicating that he expects foreign referees to be used starting from the third and fourth rounds, as there will be strong confrontations, especially between the teams competing for the league title.

“All the matches of the first round were easy, and there were no surprises, so the foreign whistle was absent,” Salim Al Shamsi added to Al-Emarat Al-Youm. “In addition, the teams usually make different calculations in the first round, as they seek to assess the levels of their players. However, when the big matches start, and the race to collect points heats up for the competing teams, and the calculations for the positions for the teams threatened with relegation, the calculations differ, and here the clubs’ requests to use the foreign whistle will appear.”

The first round was devoid of any strong confrontations, as Al Wasl, the title holder, began its journey in the tournament by meeting Ittihad Kalba, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw, while Shabab Al Ahli, the runner-up in the last league, defeated Al Bataeh 2-1, while Al Ain, the third-place team, defeated Khorfakkan 5-1. Al Wahda also defeated Ajman 1-0, Al Nasr defeated Al Orouba 5-1, Sharjah defeated Dibba Al Hisn 4-1, and Bani Yas defeated Al Jazira 2-0.

Al Nasr tops the first round standings on goal difference with Al Ain, Sharjah, Bani Yas, Shabab Al Ahli and Al Wahda, each with three points.

While the second round, which will start tomorrow, will witness relatively easy confrontations for all teams, especially the big ones, the third round will witness strong confrontations, most notably Shabab Al Ahli and Al Wahda, Sharjah and Al Jazira, and Al Wasl and Al Nasr. In the fourth round, strong confrontations will also appear, such as the match between Al Ain and Al Wasl, as well as Al Jazira and Al Nasr.

Al Shamsi continued, “I expect that we will see a lot of foreign whistles this season, especially since the Football Association has opened the door for clubs to use foreign referees without setting a specific ceiling for the number of matches in which the foreign whistle is used.”

Saleem Al Shamsi pointed out that the presence of foreign arbitration represents a major challenge to local referees in football.

It is noteworthy that the mechanism and conditions for hiring foreign referees last season stipulated “no maximum limit for requests regarding hiring a foreign referee in the President’s Cup competition and the Professional League competitions for the sports season.” The cost of hiring a foreign refereeing team for a match is 170,000 dirhams, while the Football Association has not yet issued any new mechanism regarding hiring foreign referees in the new 2024-2025 league season.