44 MEXBUL Al-Sharif

 

Bulgaria defeated Mexico in a penalty competition to reach a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time, in one of the most controversial matches of the competition. The match will always be inexplicably linked to the officiating of the experienced Syrian referee, Jamal Al-Sharif; criticised by all sides after the game, one can do little to challenge the narrative that he had a very negative effect on proceedings in New York.

Mexico got a penalty that never was both second yellow cards were harsh while Alberto García Aspe somehow escaped joining them in the early bath and Bulgaria were denied a clear penalty; all this while his tactical choices besides only made the players more and more anxious. FIFA can't say they weren't warned, especially in Russia - Cameroon.

The political gamble that the most experienced referee from CAF / AFC would deliver a solid performance in a valuable appointment totally backfired. This game, perhaps more than any other, left a very sour taste in the mouth. 

How badly wrong did he get those big decisions? Were all those cards at all justified? Why did this game go so wrong for Jamal Al-Sharif? The analysis hopefully addresses those questions, starting with the Key Match Incidents.

Key Match Incidents

17' - Penalty given to Mexico

Perhaps the confusion over whether Jamal Al-Sharif punished the trifling contact or the undeliberate handling best illustrates how much of a ghost penalty this was from the Syrian referee.

Al-Sharif simply panics because of the untidy nature of what happens, the attacker does nothing wrong, so despite the defender also doing nothing illicit, the penalty is given. So Al-Sharif doesn't give a penalty so much as hit the panic button. Such things happen from poor referees in all nations - but it's not all acceptable for that happen in the World Cup finals.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

50' - Second Yellow Card to Bulgaria no.2

Replays show a small holding offence by the Bulgaria player, which probably looked bigger to Al-Sharif in real time. A freekick decision would be a bit harsh in my view, but perfectly understandable in the circumstances.

Again, Al-Sharif panics - he totally loses the overview (a yellow card here means (wrongly) sending off a player in a World Cup knockout game), and shows the cards to eject Emil Kremenliev. This was never enough for a single yellow card in any match; let alone an important World Cup finals tie...

Having given away the wrongly awarded penalty as well, it's fair to say that Al-Sharif would have destroyed any chances of getting on Kremenliev's Christmas card list.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

58' - Second Yellow Card to Mexico no.10

After such a soft dismissal against them, invariably Bulgaria were going to try and do their best to get the referee to even it up at ten against ten. Luis García Postigo's admittedly a bit stupid tackle already on a caution, less than ten minutes after Kremenliev was sent off gave them that chance.

Al-Sharif sent García off - I can't find a reason to justify this sending off either. The only reason his reasonable attempt to reach the ball causes any danger to his opponent is because the Bulgaria man lowers his head down to try and reach the ball, endangering his own safety.

A valuable chance to even it up yes, but (as my father rehearsed to me) two wrongs do not make a right.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

77' - Red Card (DOGSO) to Mexico no.7

With Jordan Lečkov clean through on goal (his touch is less heavy than it looks), Alberto García Aspe tugs him back to try and compensate for the poor offside trap he tried to execute. In remarkable similarity to the red card that Al-Sharif did not have the courage to issue in Russia - Cameroon, García Aspe gets away with only a caution.

Having already sent off two wrongly, it is rather frustrating that when the referee should have had the nerve to issue a red card, he didn't. 

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

79' - Penalty to Bulgaria?

From a very long ball, Emil Kostadinov is put through on goal, wider than he'd probably hoped though, before having his shorts tugged in the penalty area. The holding seems decisive in him not being able to shoot. Goalkick given; the expedient defender had gotten away with it.

A mixture of panic and courage explain the first four big mistakes, for the last it is easier - positioning. Even the fittest referee of them all in 1994 couldn't make up the ground in time there, I don't imagine Al-Sharif was much closer than the halfway line to assess that duel. There was simply no chance for Yousif Al-Ghattan to see the holding either, as the holding was on his blind side. 

An understandable but still decisive mistake.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

Approach

Newspaper headlines simply bemoaned Jamal Al-Sharif's apparently ridiculously strict interpretation of the LotG - is that a fair assessment? Of the eight non-second yellow cards, I would determine them: harsh but okay; should be avoided; off camera; totally correct; totally correct (looks SFP-ish even); totally correct; correct; wrong - should be a red. So not actually a terrible hit rate for the Syrian referee given the wide-spread criticism he got.

The problem with his approach was not the cards themselves, it was how he sold them:

- First two cards should have been avoided in my view: a freekick and a warning was optimal at 13', 14' a freekick alone was enough, but he was already under pressure having cautioned a minute before. 

- Dissent (understandable though it was) call was surely justified given what we do see on camera.

- 35' is totally mandatory and managed fine.

- 41' is a really interesting case. The tackle looks very bad and as I mentioned above, on a theoretical level it looks perhaps even worthy of expulsion. So a well-deserved yellow card, no?

Well yes certainly, but Al-Sharif managed to make the players more nervous in the giving of it. First, the advantage is well-played but not signalled at all (this tackle generates little / no reaction from the players). Secondly, the card procedure is awful - very quick, and Al-Sharif is still standing in the goal area when the ensuing corner is taken and he has to sprint out of there... 

The ever-lasting pinnacle of non-textbook refereeing might well be 41'.

- 68' was managed fine.

- 71' is another case in point, in terms of whistle language and game control he totally failed here - the players had the impression this man was just chucking around cards for the fun of it. 

- 77' should have been a red card, and it is slightly comical how hard Al-Sharif had to study his notebook in order to confirm that García Aspe had not already been cautioned. 

So it was in game management where Al-Sharif failed (just as in Russia - Cameroon). I don't actually have a bigger problem with many of the cards given by the referee, but how he used them (or rather didn't use them) as a tool in order to assist him and the match, was simply poor. Again, he simply only made the players more anxious with his unpredictable decisions - and that is notwithstanding foul detection, which was a bit subpar in itself. 

Balance

FIFA payed the price for trying to satisfy the African and Asian confederations at any risk - despite his vast World Cup experience (he handled a knockout stage game in 1986!), it was clear to anyone who watched his group stage games that such a nightmare as Jamal Al-Sharif had in this game was simply waiting to happen. Any of the other three candidates, especially the two CAF officials, by the performance principle deserved a chance in a knockout game much more than Al-Sharif. 

Five (yes, five!!) crucial mistakes are not acceptable in any match, especially in the World Cup finals, and Al-Sharif's performance was even poor besides them. Perhaps the only consolation is that the game was not ultimately decided - even if it was ruined - by the referee, but decided in a penalty competition, won fair and square by Bulgaria. 

Relatively quiet afternoon for linesmen Mohammad Fanaei and Yousif Al-Ghattan, though the Bahraini linesman wrongly flagged in a quite important situation at 42'. Fanaei from Iran played a good onside in the first half. 

Jamal Al-Sharif - 6,5 Mohammad Fanaei - 8,4 Yousif Al-Ghattan - 8,2 Ali Bujsaim SYR, IRN, BHR	Mexico 1-1 Bulgaria (Bulgaria win 1-3 in a penalty competition) Round of Sixteen
Suárez (14') - SPA (Impeding) García Postigo (35') - SPA (Holding) R. Ramírez (71') - Tackle García Aspe (77') - SPA (Holding)	Kremenliev (13') - Tackle Sirakov (17') - Dissent Jordanov (41') - Tackle Kirjakov (68') - SPA (Holding)
García Postigo (58') - Tackle	Kremenliev (50') - Holding

Referees retained by FIFA for matches forty-five to fifty-two:

Rodrigo Badilla, José Torres, Philip Don, Sándor Puhl, Peter Mikkelsen, Francisco Lamolina, Ali Bujsaim, Neji Jouini and Joël Quiniou.