Al Ain star suspended

Al Ain’s Mohammed Abdulrahman (left) vies with a Al Ahli player during the Gulf Super Cup.   — KT file

Abu Dhabi — They are the fiercest of rivals and it can be equated to the famed Manchester United-Arsenal rivalry. A tussle between Al Ain and Al Ahli is never short of drama. They have had a couple of skirmishes along the way and last Friday was no different.

An ill-tempered Arabian Gulf Super Cup fixture between the two at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium saw Al Ain’s Mohammed Abdulrahman sent off in stoppage time for protesting with the referee, footwear and water bottles thrown onto the pitch by Al Ain fans and Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu banished to the stands for arguing with the Al Ain support staff.

And that has not gone unnoticed with the UAEFA Disciplinary Committee meting out bans and fines after a meeting in Dubai.

Mohammed has been handed a three-match ban, which means he is out for five fixtures including the punishment for expulsion. He has also been fined Dh50,000. Mohamed Abdulrahman had protested after the referee Yaqoub Qaseem Al Hammadi had missed seeing Al Ahli’s Habib Fardan handle the ball inside the penalty area.

A hot-tempered Mohammed Abdulrahman went at the referee again after the decision to send him off and he had to be restrained by his brother Omar and teammates. He was still wired up as he was taken through the players’ tunnel by an Al Ain official.

That sparked some fans throwing footwear and water bottles onto the pitch. There were plenty of stoppages within the stoppage time for late substitutions and crowd behaviour incidents as the five minutes of added time stretched to almost 10 minutes.

The FA’s Disciplinary Committee also gave a warning to Al Ain and a fine of Dh50,000 for crowd behaviour. The Garden City club were also additionally fined Dh10,000 after Al Ain fans directed abusive chants towards the referee. Al Ain were also fined Dh5,000 after they had delayed in entering the pitch for the second half.

Al Ain Board member Mohamed Obaid Hamdoun was fined Dh20,000 for a verbal spat with Cosmin Olaroiu. Al Ain team supervisor Mohammed Obaid Hammad was fined Dh20,000, while team administrator Nasser Al Junaibi was fined Dh2,000, for different infringements. 

Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu too was fined Dh20,000 for his spat with the Al Ain bench and an additional Dh10,000 for his pre-match comments against the referee. Back in 2013, a fixture between the two at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai had to be abandoned in stoppage time after assistant referee Mohammed Al Mehairi was struck on the head by an object thrown by a fan.

james@khaleejtimes.com