5 million dirhams the cost of foreign arbitration in 30 matches

Statistics monitored by Emirates Today revealed that the first round matches in the professional football league for the current season 2025-2026 witnessed a large presence of the foreign whistle at the expense of the local referee, especially in the large and sensitive matches whose administrations were assigned to foreign arbitration, while the local whistle was absent from leading the big matches “derbies”, unlike what was happening in the past.

The foreign whistle has appeared so far during the current season in 30 matches, and the total cost of attracting foreign referees in these matches has reached 5 million and 100 thousand dirhams.

It is noteworthy that, according to a previous decision issued by the Football Association, the cost of attracting a foreign referee per match amounts to 170 thousand dirhams, and the Football Association began implementing it in the 2021-2022 season.

This season, Al Ain topped the list of matches in which the foreign whistle appeared the most, with 12 out of the 13 matches the team played in the first round of the league, while the only match in which Al Ain was a party, and devoid of a foreign whistle, was its match against Al Bataeh in the first round, which ended with Al Ain winning 2-1 and led by international referee Omar Al Ali.

Al-Wasl came in second place with the appearance of the foreign whistle 8 times in the matches in which it was a party, compared to the appearance of the foreign referee 7 times in the matches of both Shabab Al-Ahly and Al-Jazira, while the foreign referee appeared 6 times in the matches in which Al-Wahda was a party, and 5 times in the matches of Sharjah and Al-Nasr, and three times in the matches in which Baniyas was a party, and twice in each of Ajman and Kalba and once in each of Khor Fakkan, Al-Dhafra and Dibba, while the Al-Bataeh matches were devoid of any presence. For the foreign whistle.

It is noted that, with the exception of the first round, which is the only round devoid of any appearance of foreign arbitration, all rounds witnessed a noticeable presence of the foreign whistle.

For his part, the former international player and technical analyst, Abdul Rahman Mohammed, confirmed to “Emirates Al-Youm”, commenting on the professional league clubs’ use of foreign arbitration, especially Al-Ain, which used 12 foreign referees out of 13 matches, that Al-Ain took a decision after its match against Al-Bataeh in the first round of the league to use foreign arbitration in all its matches in the league, pointing out that the decision is due to Al-Ain Club’s policy in this regard, considering that even a foreign referee can He makes mistakes in the match on discretionary matters, not on arbitration law.

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“Dibba and Al Ain”… the first appearance of a foreign referee in the season

The foreign whistle appeared for the first time in the current season’s league in the second round, during the Dibba match with Al Ain, which ended with the latter’s 3-2 victory, as the match was led by Turkish referee Halil Amot, and in the same round the match between Sharjah and Al Jazira was led by Brazilian referee Ramon Abate, and the match between Al Wahda and Shabab Al Ahly was led by Norwegian referee Espen Eskus.

In the third round, the foreign whistle appeared in three matches. The match between Shabab Al Ahly and Baniyas was led by Uzbek referee Legez Tatashev, and Al Jazira and Al Nasr were led by Slovenian referee Slavko Fenic, while Al Wasl Summit and Al Ain in the same round were led by referee Kleiman Turban Lewis.

In the fourth round, the match between Baniyas and Al Jazira was led by South Korean referee Kim Jong, and in the same round the match between Al Ain and Khor Fakkan was refereed by Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton, while the match between Al Nasr and Shabab Al Ahly was led by Singaporean referee Muhammad Taqi.

In the fifth round, the Al Jazira and Al Wahda match was refereed by Dutch referee Sardar Jozebuek, and the Al Ahly and Al Ain youth summit was led by German referee Felix Sauer, and the Al Wasl and Sharjah match in the same round was refereed by referee Hillel Amut.

In the sixth round, the match between Al Ain and Baniyas was led by Slovakian referee Ivan Kirozliak, and the match between Al Wasl and Al Nasr in the same round was led by Jordanian referee Adham Makhammeh.

In the seventh round, the foreign whistle appeared in three matches. The Al-Wahda and Al-Nasr match was officiated by South Korean referee Manyang, the Al-Ahly and Sharjah youth summit was led by Brazilian referee Rafael Klaus, and the Ajman match with Al-Ain was officiated by Argentine referee Facundo Tello, and the referee Rawda Al-Mansouri appeared in the same match as fourth referee.

In the eighth round, the match between Al Wasl and Ajman was led by Uruguayan referee Andres Matonte, while the Al Ain and Al Jazira summit was refereed by Spanish referee Jesus Manzano.

In the ninth round, Ivan Kryozialek led Al Ain’s match with Kalba, and Kim Jung led Al Wahda’s match with Sharjah, while Shabab Al Ahly’s match with Al Wasl was officiated by South Korean referee Manyang.

In the tenth round, he officiated the Al-Nasr match with Al-Ain, the Dutchman Daniel Makele. In the 11th round, he led Al-Wasl Summit with Al-Wahda, Hillel Amut, and in the same round, he managed the Al-Ain match with Sharjah, Romanian Stefan Kovacs, while he led the Al-Jazira match with Shabab Al-Ahly, Ramon Abate.

The Kalba match with Al Wasl in the 12th round was led by Brazilian Wilton Sambio, and in the same round the Al Dhafra match with Al Ain was led by Bosnian referee Irfan Bellito.

In the 13th and final round, the Al-Wasl match with Al-Jazira was led by French referee François Lacquer, and the Al-Ain summit with Al-Wahda was led by Clement Louis.

• Abdul Rahman Mohammed: Al Ain made a decision to use a foreign referee after its match against Al Bataeh in the first round of the league.