The Swiss Manuel Navarro, director of the referees department in the Saudi Football Association, confirmed that Salem Al-Dosari, the Al-Hilal player, deserved to be expelled in the derby, stressing that the Saudi referee is developing over time.
Navarro said during his speech to the “Into the Goal” program on Wednesday: Refereeing in Saudi Arabia is developing, we still have a lot of work to do, but I think we have done well, compared to last year, the referees’ mistakes have become less, and we are trying to reduce them little by little.
He continued: We hold many workshops and training sessions in order to raise the level of referees, I know that the Saudi referee sometimes delays during the review of video technology decisions, but the matter varies depending on the case, there are cases that may be reviewed for less than 10 seconds and there are other cases that may require longer time .
He added: The Saudi rulers have enough strength of character, and we started training them to enhance this aspect by having the finest referees of the International Federation to work with them for a period ranging from one month to two on developing personal skills, including management. We punish referees with suspension when they make mistakes, but we do not announce their penalties because there is no league in the world that publicizes these details.
Regarding the intervention of Salem Al-Dosari, Al-Hilal player, on Anselmo, the average of Al-Nasr Square, in the last derby between the two teams, Navarro said: In my opinion, the intervention deserved a red card, but the error came from the referees of the video technology because they did not tell the referee that the intervention deserved expulsion.
Regarding the television statements of the President of Al-Fateh after his team’s meeting with Al-Ittihad in the King’s Cup, Navarro commented: I did not hear what he said, and I really do not care about what is happening in the media.