Al-Wahda's coach, Dimas Teixeira, confirmed that the club's management did not request a foreign referee for the match, and that their opponent Sharjah did not make such a request either. He expressed his surprise at the appointment of South Korean referee Kim Jong-hyuk for the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. "I have spent more than six months in the ADNOC Pro League, and to this day, I do not know the mechanism for selecting foreign referees," Teixeira said. "Neither we nor Sharjah requested a foreign referee. We preferred that the match be managed by a local referee team because they do an excellent job and possess the experience and abilities, instead of bringing a referee from a long way away from the UAE. I don't understand the mechanism, but I respect it. Nevertheless, I prefer a local referee." The coach also expressed his dissatisfaction with some of the referee's decisions. On the other hand, Sharjah's coach, José Moraes, said: "It was a beautiful and competitive match, and I am happy that I saw the performance of both teams. Now I am on Sharjah's side, my team showed good organization, and the match was on a difficult pitch for us." As a result, Al-Wahda increased its points total to 25, moving to second place, five points behind league leaders Al-Ain (30 points). Sharjah, with 11 points, moved up to 10th place.
