Al-Jazeera coach, Marinco Pusic, for the first time since taking charge of the team, opened the file on refereeing, criticizing the decisions in his team's match against Shabab Al-Ahli, which ended with Al-Jazeera's 1-2 defeat in the 21st round of the Pro League. Pusic emphasized that one of the key moments had a direct impact on the course of the game. Although Pusic had avoided talking about refereeing in previous matches, after the game against Shabab Al-Ahli, he stressed that what happened in this specific encounter was clear and could not be ignored, especially with a situation he considered a "clear chance to score" that should have been followed by a decision to send off a Shabab Al-Ahli defender, which would have given his team a numerical advantage at a critical point in the match. Pusic said, "I usually don't talk about refereeing, and this may be the first time since I took over Al-Jazeera, but what happened in this match was clear; there was an obvious obstruction near the goal, and the Shabab Al-Ahli defender should have been sent off, but the referee only showed a yellow card. It's a strange decision in an obvious situation." He added, "We know the rules well, and when there is an obstruction that denies a clear goal-scoring chance near the goal, the natural decision is a red card. If we had played with a numerical advantage at that moment, the course of the match could have changed significantly." The Dutch coach continued, "Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that we played a strong match against a team that is one of the best in the league. There were periods in our favor and others in favor of the opponent, especially in the second half, which saw more chances for Shabab Al-Ahli." He explained, "We stayed in the game until the end, which is very important. When you are close to the result, you still have a chance to come back, and we did get that chance, but we didn't use it as required." Pusic confirmed that his team showed strong character, saying, "What impressed me most in the match was that the players did not give up and continued to fight until the last moment. This spirit reflects the team's character and its real desire to compete."
