If that's the case, let's leave football alone. We are no longer enjoying it; we are disgusted. Not only are we disgusted, but it also negatively affects the nerves of the people who have endured years of stress.
Can a person live from the moment they open their eyes to the world until retirement constantly witnessing injustice at every step, gentlemen? (This conversation has less to do with women because they are not that interested in football).
Forty years ago, there was a referee from Minsk named Vadim, last name Zhuk. He lived up to his troublesome surname, he was like a pest; whenever he had a chance, he caused "Neftçi" to lose. Our team was already unfortunate; it never won two games in a row, specialized in draws, and when it did play properly, it ended up falling victim to Zhuk. What did it mean to award 3 penalties against "Neftçi" in one game? Zhuk did that. (In Wikipedia, he committed a blatant forgery, writing that supposedly he awarded two penalties against Kyiv "Dynamo" and one against "Neftçi"). However, in every round, across 10 matches involving 20 teams, a total of only 3 penalties are not assigned at the goals.
You see, 40 years have passed, but the rascal's arbitrariness and lack of objectivity have not been forgotten. If he were a Muslim, we would write on social media, "We do not allow Vadim Zhuk to cause 'Neftçi' to lose" (intentionally writing his name in lowercase letters). He would ponder it, regret his actions, and we would take our revenge this way. But they have no criteria of halal or haram; if we wrote that, he would reply back saying “go to hell, halal-ize it.”
Alright, what should we say about the referee who intentionally caused "Neftçi" to lose that day? Today, if in 1000 football matches worldwide there are 100 such incidents, where an opposing attacker is clearly offside by 3 meters and obstructs the goalkeeper’s view and a goal is scored, in 99 out of 100 games that goal would be disallowed, only in one would the goal stand, and that has already happened — the goal "Zirə" scored against "Neftçi" was allowed. Nothing like this would happen in any country, but it has happened in Azerbaijan.
Because of that, the referee who allowed that goal was sidelined, and VAR referee Nicat Ismayilov was punished. Meanwhile, the main referee Inqilab Mammadov was himself one step away from the incident, and it was observed that the "Zirə" player ordered a taxi from "Bolt" to leave offside and was waiting.
Yesterday in the "Sabah"–"Qarabağ" match, there were many controversial moments and decisions inconsistent with objectivity. The most notable occurred in the final minutes of the match. Kamilo Duran’s shot in the opponent’s penalty area hit the hand of "Sabah" player Velko Simić. In 99 out of 100 matches, a penalty would have been awarded for that. Referee Rəvan, wanting his future and his affairs to be smooth, ruled in favor of "Sabah" and did not award a penalty. When the "Qarabağ" players protested, the referee gave a red card to another player of the Aghdam club (he had given the first in the first half). Is that justice? Deny the team a rightful penalty and on top of that show a forbidden red card to its player.
Two weeks ago, the "Turan" team from Tovuz was eliminated due to referee injustice and went away, and the football fans from a large district were left frustrated and disgusted with national football. Tomorrow, fans of another team will face the same fate.
And then they say our fans don't love local football. What would they love? Every game there is arbitrariness, forbidden acts, injustice, repulsiveness. What is there to like?
Can football be developed this way? Absolutely not. Today a team that becomes champion or wins a cup with referee bias, what will they do tomorrow in Europe? Nothing, there will be no biased referees there, goals will flood their net, and they will return home ashamed.
As teacher Alimpaşa said, why are you doing this, why should it be this way? Is it so difficult to be fair?
Actually, this is a rhetorical question; of course, it is difficult to be fair. The hardest thing in the world is to be fair. Our brother Turkey is facing the same day as us. In their football affairs, injustice is rampant. You feel it is not without reason. Sure enough, teams are given reasons to be unjust. For example, the “Samsunspor” club opposed the appointment of referee Atilla Karaoğlan to the match against “Trabzonspor.” Because two rounds ago, Karaoğlan showed a red card to their head coach, and the man is still watching his team’s game from afar.
Because of such injustices, Turkish referees are no longer invited to international matches, and people say if you managed games objectively, you would make your country’s football prosper.
If this continues, the farthest place our referees will reach will be Tovuz or Quba.
Now don't come out saying that in other fields everything is rosy and only our football suffers because of incompetent referees. That's not true. The state of justice, honesty, and integrity in other fields is just as bad as in football.
And that is very sad. You live so many years, hoping that one day a football match will be managed fairly, yet it is not meant to be.
Samir SARI