Al-Jaisra player Simon Panza expressed his bewilderment at the performance of Spanish referee Gil Manzano after he made three decisions in a single game. Panza also expressed his surprise at the disallowance of his goal in the first half against Al-Ain, although, in his estimation, the foul was committed against him. In the match that ended in a 1-1 draw in the eighth round of the ADNOC Pro League at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Panza commented on the situation. "Those moments were very confusing for me and my teammates, but now I prefer to focus on what can be improved on the field, rather than getting caught up in refereeing decisions that have become part of football," said Panza. He explained: "We entered the match with a mindset to win and take the points. Although Al-Ain's goal came when Al-Jaisra was in control of the game, the team managed to come back and score an equalizer, which reflects the players' great determination to achieve victory." Panza added: "We were not fortunate enough to score the winning goal, we played a good game against a strong opponent like Al-Ain. Despite missing the penalty, we delivered a great performance, and we will continue to work on improving our game in the coming period." Regarding the disallowed goal, Panza explained that the Al-Ain player was constantly pressuring him and hindering his movement, but he managed to regain his balance, get past the defender, and score. "The disallowance of the goal was not clear to me, which caused some frustration among the players, but referee decisions remain part of football, and we have to move on." As for the second goal, which was disallowed after a video review, Panza pointed out: "The referee initially announced that the goal would not count, then he reviewed the decision and counted it, before disallowing it again." He clarified that he did not receive a reasonable explanation for the decision, which further confused the players on the field. Panza confirmed that such situations require players to maintain their focus and not allow external decisions to affect their performance. Despite the refereeing controversy, Panza expressed his great satisfaction with his team's collective performance, emphasizing that the fighting spirit and commitment to team play were evident throughout the match.
