RI coach lashes out at referee after 10-0 defeat

Aji Santoso: Tribunnews.com/Dany PermanaIndonesian coach Aji Santoso denounced the refereeing of Andre El Haddad on Thursday following his team’s humiliating 10-0 defeat against host Bahrain in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match, in which the Lebanese referee awarded Bahrain four penalties against the Indonesian national team.

 “We were completely toyed with by the referee,” Aji told tribunnews.com after the match, referring to the fact that his team had to play with 10 men for most of the game following El Haddad’s decision to send off Indonesian goalkeeper Samsidar for a professional foul only three minutes after kick off.

 This is not the first time for El Haddad to be mired in controversy for his officiating. The referee was also in the spotlight last year after he officiated the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification third round match between China and Singapore on Sept. 2 in which he was deemed as making several dubious calls in favor of the home side China, which later went on to win the game 2-1.

 After the match, Singapore players uttered heavy criticisms against El Haddad, with goalkeeper Lionel Lewis labeling the referee as “robbing” points from the Singapore national team. Captain Shahril Ishak described his decisions in the game as “killing the Singaporean players”.

 Despite the humiliating defeat, however, Aji did not point fingers at any single Indonesian player, defending the squad by arguing that the players did not actually deserve the 10-goal margin loss.

 “I am proud with the lads’ performance; they have played very well,” Agus said. “I will keep this team. They will continue to train so that they can develop [into better players] in the future.” (sat)