Al Shabab and Dubai coaches left angered by referee after 1-1 draw

Rival managers Paulo Bonamigo and Ayman Ramadi hit out at the official last night following a red card decision.

DUBAI // Rival coaches Paulo Bonamigo and Ayman Ramadi hit out at the referee last night after the 1-1 draw between Al Shabab and Dubai.

Ramadi, whose Dubai side were reduced to 10 men when Ali Mahmoud was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 83rd minute, accused Abdulla Al Harthi, the match official, of playing to the gallery while Bonamigo said the league should take responsibility for the performance of referees.

"The red card was totally unfair," Ramadi said. "The referee did it just to satisfy the home fans, who were screaming for it. If I am wrong, then I am sorry. But if the referee is wrong, it's not fair for my player to be stopped for nothing."

Shabab's Bonamigo said: "We were not happy with the referee's performance, but we cannot use this an excuse for the result. We are not here to evaluate the referee. We believe there are people in the federation who are responsible for this."

The draw meant Shabab have claimed just three points from their last four games to slip from second to fourth in the Pro League table.

"The team's performance has certainly dipped below expectations," Bonamigo said. "We are going to talk to the players and we will try to find out why their performance level is slipping."

Shabab seemed to be heading for victory last night when Carlos Villanueva gave them a 16th-minute lead, weaving his way through a maze of defenders before blasting the ball into the back of the net.

But the Dubai substitute Hassan Mohammed levelled the scores in the 68th minute with a diving header.

"The draw is a fair result," Ramadi said.