2023-12-23T09:13:31+00:00
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/ The Iraqi whistle has witnessed, during the past few days, an unprecedented escalation and a state of division of opinions, sparked by the announcement of the head of the referees committee to prevent international referee Mohammed Tariq from refereeing “unless he removes the tattoo on his body.”
In this regard, the decision, especially after it was announced in the media and on one of the satellite channels, witnessed widespread controversy, especially after referee Mohamed Tarek filed a lawsuit against the head of the referees committee, considering the announcement of the suspension decision in the media as defamation, insult and interference in private personal matters, and the escalation is still ongoing and ongoing until now, and has not been settled.
Agency surveyed the opinions of the Iraqi refereeing community to learn about their impressions and opinions on this matter, and quoted referee Hussein Turki as saying: “It was not supposed to discuss any topic that involves the privacy of referees, whether Mohammed Tariq or others, in the media, and the topic should be private and limited between the referee and the Football Association’s referees committee within the committee’s scope, and the decision should be issued internally and according to the system, adding: “We know that tattoos are a personal matter, but the committee has its own opinion and instructions and everyone must abide by them, and it would have been better not to expand the scope of the dispute.”
“It is difficult after the suspension decision was announced for the referee to appear again in refereeing matches, especially since we see some of the audience clinging to the referee’s negatives only, even if he is the best referee in the world,” Turki explained, noting that “the committee is solely responsible for the referees and for directing them to implement the instructions and special decisions, and that issuing and implementing the laws is an internal matter that is not announced on a television program in front of viewers.”
For his part, referee Salam Awad told the agency, “Iraq is a conservative country with traditions and customs, and logic says that there is no working or international referee with a tattoo of this size and place in any country in the world,” expressing his surprise at his colleague Tariq’s insistence on keeping the tattoo despite the fact that he is free to do what he wants personally, but he should have complied with the advice of the head of the referees’ committee.”
Awad added, “Mohammed Tariq and the rest of the referees take instructions from the Referees Committee and the Federation, as it is the sponsor of the football community, which is an important outlet for most Iraqis.”
In contrast, referee Amir Hussein, during his interview with the agency, referred to the basic system of the referees’ regulations regarding referees’ violations and penalties, and stressed that it is not permissible to announce them in the media, noting that the referees’ committee is right to demand that Mohamed Tarek remove the tattoo, but not in the manner that the head of the referees’ committee, Najah Rahm, took after announcing the suspension of referee Mohamed Tarek on television.