Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic on Wednesday dismissed calls by Al Hilal for an investigation into their controversial AFC Champions League final, saying he had no interest in what the Saudi side thought.
The Saudi giants were fuming after the match in Riyadh on Saturday, calling it a "black spot" on Asian football and raising suspicions about possible match-fixing.
They took aim at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after going down 1-0 on aggregate, with several penalty appeals waved away over the course of the two legs, claiming the integrity of the competition had been tarnished.
Popovic was unfazed by the uproar, saying the Wanderers were the rightful Asian champions.
"When you lose, some teams and some clubs take it differently," he told Sky Sports radio.
"That's been their approach and it's of no interest to us. We're not really concerned by their words at the moment.
"We're the champions, we've earnt that. We played them over two matches, 180 minutes and we were the better team over the two games."
Saturday's game ended in ugly scenes as Al Hilal's Nasser Al-Shamrani spat at Matthew Spiranovic, sparking a melee. Al Hilal players also removed their runners-up medals as soon as they received them.
Al Hilal urged the AFC to investigate who was responsible for selecting the match referees, claiming they waved away two "explicit penalties" in the first leg and four in the second.
The club took particular issue with the appointment of Japan's Yuichi Nishimura for the second leg. Nishimura was de-selected from World Cup duty after giving hosts Brazil a highly debatable penalty in their tournament opener against Croatia.
"What happened in the second leg of the AFC Champions League final is a black spot in the history of Asian football and looting of the right of an entire people who has been waiting for happiness and enjoyment of fair competition," Al Hilal said in a statement.
The Wanderers became the first Australian team to win the Asian football showpiece and will now represent the region at next month's FIFA Club World Cup where they could face Real Madrid.
Source: AFP
GMT 12:32 2018 Sunday ,02 December
Syria’s wheelchair basketball team ranks 2nd in Lebanon Int’l ChampionshipGMT 21:30 2018 Friday ,23 November
Gold, bronze medals for Damascus team in 3rd Arab tournament of special sportsGMT 13:50 2018 Monday ,19 November
Swimmer Juma’a qualifies for FINA world swimming championships in ChinaGMT 14:31 2018 Friday ,16 November
Syria’s Kalziyeh qualifies for FINA world swimming championship in ChinaGMT 16:37 2018 Sunday ,04 November
Saudi Football Team Wins AFC U-19 ChampionshipGMT 18:40 2018 Thursday ,01 November
Syria gains two gold medals in Kickboxing games of AlgeriaGMT 12:43 2018 Friday ,19 October
Six gold medals for Syria in Afro-Arab Powerlifting Championships 2018GMT 14:28 2018 Wednesday ,03 October
BTA championship winners honouredMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor