KARACHI, Dec 9: Maldives soccer officials took a swipe on what they called sub-standard refereeing on Friday, saying they might lodge an official protest against poor decisions that would never let South Asian football flourish.

Maldives manager Hiyaly Mohamed Rasheed and coach Stoykov Iordan were furious on what they believed were poor decisions by Bangladeshi referee Abdul Hannan in a match against Sri Lanka.

“I would strongly protest against poor refereeing. There were several poor decisions by the referee. If these things continue to happen, South Asian soccer can never be promoted. It is very bad for the region,” Iordan told a post-match press conference.

Asked to elaborate and point out specific incidents, the coach said referee let the Sri Lankans off the hook while he should have taken harsher decision given the serious nature of fouls.

“There were moments when Sri Lankans players came from behind with rough tackles on my players and the referee just showed a yellow card instead of red. The kind of rough play Sri Lankans were demonstrating, they should have been controlled and red carded,” said the Bulgarian.

Rasheed said since coach wanted to protest against the referee, he was planning to lodge an official protest with the technical officials.

“I can’t say whether it was biased refereeing. But I am sure it was pathetic example of refereeing. We are contemplating lodging an official protest, although we know nothing will happen because Maldives is a small country,” the manager said.

When Sri Lanka manager Clement de Silva was asked why the players were focused on demonstrating rough play rather making smooth and combined moves, the official said “perhaps it was because of pressure and my players wanted to win.”

Match commissioner Fouad Jaroudi said so far Maldives officials had not approached him and there was no possibility that the protest would be considered.

“I haven’t got any protest as yet from Maldives officials. They have a right to protest. But it will be useless as decisions by referee cannot be overturned. Referee is the final authority on the pitch whether he is right or wrong,” Jaroudi told Dawn.

The Lebanese, however, refrained from giving his personal views over the standard of the refereeing during the match.

“If they (Maldives) want to protest it’s fine. But I can’t comment on the standard of the refereeing.”