In Syria, referees are unprotected against the interference of club administrations, nor of that of the Syrian Federation for Football (SFF) or the General Sports Federation (GSF). Previously, many corruption cases were exposed, after which referees lost their badges and got suspended from work in 2009 after extortions by the Referees Committee. Last June, the Syrian League referees threatened to strike in case refereeing fees were not raised and penalties against them by the aforementioned committee remained in effect. In this file, Enab Baladi investigates cases of referee corruption and their relationship with the Syrian Federation for Football (SFF), as well as the Asian and International Federations. To conduct this investigation, Enab Baladi had contacted former international and local referees.
Exerting pressure and controlling results
Muhammad al-Ghadry, a referee in the First Division of the Syrian league, told Enab Baladi his testimony about a match between Qardaha and al-Shabab clubs in the Second Division, in which he was an assistant referee. Back then, the refereeing team received a direct threat from the president of Qardaha sports club, Muhammad Khair Bek. He descended to the dressing room, spoke loudly with the referee of the match and asked him for a penalty kick in favour of his team, then headed towards the assistant referees in a threatening tone and said: “I don’t want to see a single offside flag raised.” However, the referees’ team did not respond to his requests, and al-Ghadry concluded his story by saying, “we finished the match with the lowest possible losses!” (without penalties, assault, or dismissal as a result of malicious reports) Luckily, al-Ghadry and his colleagues suffered the least losses in 2007; however, referee Yasser al-Hussein was not lucky enough in 2009, which has witnessed a huge refereeing scandal. Former vice president of the Syrian Football Federation (SFF), Nader Al-Atrash, told Enab Baladi that al-Hussein was beaten in the dressing room at the end a match between al-Wathba SC and Jableh SC. Back then, Jableh Sporting Club had to win to remain in the first division, which was under the control of a number of brokers. Al-Atrash explained that one of the Referees Committee members appointed al-Hussein as a referee for the match, which al-Atrash described as “a joke in terms of technicality and refereeing”. Both teams tied the match at 2-2 which meant that Jableh SC ranked lower than it was supposed to. Meantime, a member of Jableh SC entered the dressing room and beat al-Hussein severely, took all his money, an estimated amount of 250 thousand Syrian Pounds, and left the dressing room. In the wake of this incident, al-Hussein’s license was suspended; however, he returned later to the pitch before announcing his retirement last June following the recent problems in the local league and the huge criticism by followers of social media platforms and local media outlets. While announcing his retirement decision, al-Hussein said that his license was suspended in 2009 as “a malicious penalty”, after being accused of match-fixing. The 2009 scandal did not pass unnoticed, according to the former international referee and the secretary of Referee’s Committee of Aleppo, Shaker Hamidi. He told Enab Baladi, that an investigation resulted in the dismissal of members of the Referees Committee and a large number of referees. So was the case in 2000 after Tishreen SC won the Syrian League championship, where a number of referees’ licenses were suspended. For his part, Nader al-Atrash recounted another incident in a match between al-Shorta SC and Hutteen SC in 2008. Back then, both teams needed to win to stay in the first-class. Hence, the referee of the match, Abd al-Rahman Rashu, was called to the “State security” branch to allow al-Shorta SC to win the match, the referee promised each side to help it, according to al-Atrash; however, the match ended in a tie.
To what extent these entities intervene?
Former international referee and instructor Muhannad Dibba, in an interview with Enab Baladi, considered that the current major attack on Syrian referees is a result of several “catastrophic mistakes made by them”. He also talked about some referees being under pressure in matches of al-Sahel, Jableh, Tishreen, and Qardah Sporting Clubs. Former international referee Abdullah al-Nasser believes that forming a practical refereeing base is a “very complicated and difficult process”. He also considered that corruption in refereeing is an important factor which eats away at the Syrian football.” Al-Nasser added that combating corruption in football needs organized action simply because one individual cannot eliminate it, describing refereeing as the “weakest link” in Syrian football, often blamed for all mistakes and problems. Meantime, former referee, Muhammad al-Ghadry, believes that an honest referee can reject corruption in certain situations, but certainly cannot fight it. According to referee Abdullah al-Nasser, at the beginning of the season, the Referees Committee appoints referees; yet, the names of the chosen ones will be according to the wishes of influential members. Meantime, former vice-president of the Syrian Football Federation (SFF), Nader Al-Atrash, believes that the selection of referees is done in accordance with the whims of the main referees’ committee. During the rule of the Vice-Chairman of the Referees Committee in the Syrian Federation for Football, Nizar Rabbat, all businessmen were able to choose referees based on their whims, as al-Atrash put it. Such information was verified by Enab Baladi from different sources.
What prevents FIFA and the AFC from interfering?
There should be a connection between referees and the Federation of the International Football Associations (FIFA), but it was always tainted by corruption because nominating the formers for the FIFA international refereeing badge was conducted and conditioned by a local committee and local football federation. Such conditions included spending a specific period of time in the first division and officiating a specific number of matches there. In addition, referees must be “charismatic” and talented. All these conditions open the door for more intervention by the local committees and federations while selecting the names of referees in local contests. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) leaves room for federations to manage local contests and it does not intervene unless there is a conflict between sporting clubs and one of them filed a complaint to the FIFA or the AFC, which is impossible, according to the former international referee, instructor and observer Muhannad Dibba. He explained that whoever files a complaint is qualified by sports authorities and security services “a traitor to the country” and thus they are forced to resign, which was the case with former President of SFF, Salah Ramadan.
Where Syrian referees stand?
Syrian referee Farouk Bouzo refereed matches in the 1978 World Cup, in addition to Jamal al-Sharif who officiated at the 1994 World Cup, preceded by the late referee Fawzi Tello, as an assistant referee in the 1966 World Cup qualifiers in a match between Turkey and Portugal along with late referee Rashad Hawasli. However, for years Syrian referees have not participated in international matches. International referee Abdullah al-Nasser told Enab Baladi that for Syrian referees to officiate international matches they need strong presidents of SFF and the Referees Committee, in addition to good international connections, especially when they have good reputations, they can easily promote a positive image about Syrian referees to the globe. Throughout its history, the SFF had good ties with both FIFA and the AFC Referees’ Committee thanks to Brigadier Farouk Bouzo, who contributed in improving the image of Syrian referees globally and continually, as al-Nasser put it. He also justified this through the participation of former international referee Jamal al-Sharif in three World Cups, namely in 1986, 1990, and 1994. International referee Shaker Hamidi agrees with al-Nasser, and added that until 2010, Syria had six “elite” referees at the continental level, thanks to Farouk Bouzo who managed to promote a good image about Syrian referees abroad. Muhannad Dibba believes that previously Syria was present in Arab, Asian, and International federations, which is no longer the case, since it has no representation due to the weakness of the current personnel, and therefore an absence of referees. Dibba added that lack of development in the refereeing system along with the corruption incident of 2009, as well as lack of talents, let alone the spread of patronage-based relationships, all have urged continental and international federations to lose faith and confidence in Syrian refereeing. Meantime, Nader al-Atrash said that the absence of referees of international forums comes as a result of sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime as well as referees’ poor performance in recent years.
Source: Enab Baladi
