51 SWEBUL Bujsaim
On reflection, Ali Bujsaim's attendance at the tournament leaves something of a sour taste in the mouth. His appointment to one (of the least sonorous group matches) and then directly to the third place playoff strongly suggests that Bujsaim was here not really on merit; his performance in the Bulgaria - Greece game bares that out.
It is true that partly he was in the United States to collect experience, and I don't doubt he found his time there of incredible valuable, but moreover my feeling is that he was here to boost his palmarés, so that the Arab lobby could have a top referee who could reach a lot at future World Cups - say handling a knockout match or two in 1998 and then being a candidate for the final in 2002. You just have to look at the appointments in 1994 to see how powerful the Arab lobby was at FIFA!
To that effect - the aim of the game here for Bujsaim was essentially to not totally cock this game up, and pass through without any memorable problems. Being fair to the Emrati referee he did do that. Third place playoff is a very difficult game to approach, and his performance here was okay all-things-considered.
It is true that his disciplinary control was rather non-existent (two cards and no other tactical signals), and he missed a penalty to Sweden - Bujsaim didn't even have the totally wrong idea, Henrik Larsson did fall of his own accord, but only because the Bulgaria 'keeper hit him rather painfully on his knee (crucial mistake).
Bujsaim also faced a potential violent conduct, correctly disallowed a goal for Bulgaria, allowed a quickly taken freekick for Sweden he ought not have (2-0 goal) and saw through a large number of Hristo Stojčkov simulations.
At the final whistle it was job done for the Emirati referee; he could start World Cup 1998 with the ground running and became a powerful political tool to entice and appease the African and especially Asian associations.
Ernesto Taibi's appointment was consolation for missing out on being at Lamolina's side for the Brazil - Sweden semifinal; though the Argentine played some good onsides, he incorrectly flagged on some occasions too. Rharib El-Jilali did a better job than fellow CAF third place-appointee Mohamed Hansal did four years earlier; Moroccan was relatively quiet.
Neji Jouini would have been a more deserving beneficiary of this third place appointment, instead he was only fourth official, which still constituted a nice end to his World Cup career.
| Ali Bujsaim - 7,8(2) Rharib El-Jilali - 8,4 Ernesto Taibi - 8,2 Neji Jouini UAE, MAR, ARG | Sweden 4-0 Bulgaria Third Place Playoff |
 K. Andersson (82') - Lack of Respect (Holding) | Jankov (73') - SPA (Holding) |
If the roles of referee and FO were swapped, it would have been deserved. This way it left a bad taste in ones mouth indeed - Bujsaim limited himself to "calm down" gestures and that was basically it. Greatly helped by the clear score early on, he saw it through, but I can't say he contributed much.
ReplyDeleteI have doubts regarding the no penalty call (goalkeeper vs Larsson) and the cancelled Bulgarian goal (no handball visible IMHO). Bujsaim failed to convince and the big role he would play four years later is surprising.
I would say rather, "the big role he would play four years later should have been surprising (but wasn't)" :)
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