Mohamed Wahbi, the coach of the Moroccan national team, expressed his strong frustration and criticism towards the referee who officiated his team’s match against Canada in the round of 16, noting that the referee’s decisions regarding the issuance of yellow cards were noticeably excessive.
These statements were made by Wahbi during the post-match press conference, where he expressed surprise at the significant number of warnings, confirming that he spoke with the referee during halftime, which led to a relative calm in the management of the match during the second half.
The national coach continued by highlighting the intervention of player Hakimi, who received a yellow card, considering that the incident did not warrant such a card, and it would have been sufficient for the referee to talk to the player to calm the situation.
He pointed out that a round of 16 match did not deserve such a high number of yellow cards, especially the unjustified ones.
Wahbi concluded his remarks by emphasizing that the main reason for his criticism of the referee was the quickness in showing the yellow cards, saying: “Frankly, I did not understand the style in which the referee managed the match. What I blame him for is the haste in issuing yellow cards; apart from that, there were no major refereeing mistakes.”
Wahbi also noted that despite his reservations, the refereeing performance did not directly affect the final result, but it did impact the flow of the game and the spirit of competition.
