July 31, 2007	Tuesday	Rajab 15, 1428

JAKARTA, July 30: Four match officials have been suspended for poor performances during the Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Sunday. The AFC banned one referee for a month and suspended another referee and two assistants until further assessment, following a meeting of the referees appointment sub-committee.

Lebanese referee Najm Talaat was suspended for one month for his handling of the Group B match between Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Iranian referee Masoud Moradi and his assistant Sokhandan Reza, also of Iran, were suspended until further notice for their performances in Qatar-UAE match. Singaporean linesman Yew Mun Tang was also suspended pending further assessment after the Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan quarter-final.

The Asian Cup has been marred by several controversial refereeing decisions but the AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam told a news conference he was pleased with the overall standard.

“In every competition there are human errors but in general with the refereeing in this tournament I am absolutely satisfied,” he said.—Reuters