JEDDAH, 20 December 2004 — After the failed game comes the blame game.
While almost everybody was singling him out for Saudi Arabia’s embarrassing defeat to Bahrain and exit from the 17th Gulf Cup, Muhammad Nur, fended off the accusation that he was to be blamed and trained his guns instead on the Spanish referee who officiated the match.
In an interview to Alam Alriadah, sister publication of Arab News, after the match against Bahrain, Muhammad Nur attacked referee Luis Medina and accused him of unjustly showing him the red card.
He defended himself by saying, “I tried to talk to the referee to tell him that I tackled the ball and not the player but he gave me the red card and told me that I do not have the right to talk.”
He said that he was a victim of injustice and he would not apologize for a mistake that he did not commit. He was optimistic that this exit from the Gulf tournament is an isolated incident and that Saudi Arabia’s chances to qualify for the World Cup are bright.
He said that the Saudi team was targeted.
Of the red card Nur said: “The Spanish referee was not after me, but was after the whole team. Everybody saw the match and the way we were treated. Look at the different way he was talking to the Saudi team and to the Bahraini team. If we tried to object, he would shout at us and gets angry, while he would say nothing to the Bahraini team. All sport critics agreed that the red card was uncalled for.” Nur said he just felt bad because everybody is blaming him for the failure of the team. He said: “it was not my fault that I was sent out by two red cards. I will consider what happened to me a hard lesson that I will learn from”. “To the Saudi fans I say do not be harsh on us. We promise that the Saudi team will come back and with a better performance. Media also played its role in discouraging Saudi players. I wish the Saudi media must give the same support the media of other teams demonstrate to their national teams in victory and in defeat. All that I want to tell them is to be patient.”
