Not Optimum Officiating in the AFC Cup

The following incident occurred during a first-leg quarterfinal AFC Cup match between Al Karamah of Syria and Muangthong United from Thailand on Tuesday 14 September 2010. The match finished 1—0.

Watch the incident beginning from 0:30

Al Karamah 1-0 MTU_News




This incident occurred in the 14th minute when Al Karamah’s midfielder Mahmoud Al Mawas shot from distance and the ball cannoned off the crossbar. The rebound fell to Mohamad Al Hamwi who headed the loose ball into the net. The following four freeze frames show this.

[The ball is struck from a distance of over 30 yards. The ball's flight can be seen all the way to the crossbar.]

From the time the ball is struck from over 30 yards to the time it hits the crossbar, it is clear that Al Karamah players (blue) are all onside. However, the goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside. This means the AR was probably not fully focused or was poorly positioned.

Whether this disallowed goal proves significant or not may depend on the result of the second-leg quarterfinal AFC Cup match. Nevertheless, this is not optimum officiating.

The Match Officials were:

Match Commissioner
Abdulrazaq Mohamed Abbas Kamal (Bahrain)

Referee Assessor
Ali Tareq Ahmed Ali (Iraq)

Referee
Tan Hai (China)

Assistant Referees
Huo Weiming (China)
Su Jige (China)

Fourth Official
Muokhtar Saleh Ali Al-Yarimi (Yemen)

Match reports can be found here and here.