No red card for Al Shamal player after Simon Bouabre hair-pull incident, says referee expert

A refereeing decision during Al Hilal’s 3-1 defeat by Qatar’s Al Shamal in the AFC Champions League Elite has prompted debate, after the Saudi club appealed for a red card following an incident involving Simon Bouabre.

Al Hilal were beaten at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Tuesday in the third round of the competition’s league phase.

Early in the second half, Al Hilal players called for Al Shamal midfielder Nasim Ben Issa to be sent off after appearing to pull Bouabre’s hair in an off-the-ball incident in midfield.

The referee decided not to dismiss the Al Shamal player.

Egyptian refereeing expert Mohamed Kamal Reesha supported that decision, saying the offence did not meet the threshold for a red card.

“In the incident involving Nasim Ben Issa, the Al Shamal player, pulling Simon Bouabre’s hair, the contact began with him holding the shirt,” Reesha told Saudi newspaper Al Riyadiyah.

“Ben Issa’s hand then reached the end of Bouabre’s hair at the conclusion of the contact, with a light pull that had no effect and involved no force.”

Reesha said the referee should nevertheless have taken action against Ben Issa for the initial shirt pull.

“The referee can be criticised for failing to show the Al Shamal player a deserved yellow card for holding the shirt, but the offence did not warrant a sending-off,” he added.

The incident was compared with a recent dismissal involving Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian was sent off for a similar reason during Real Madrid’s match against Villarreal in the eighth round of La Liga.

However, Reesha distinguished between the two incidents, arguing that the contact involving Ben Issa and Bouabre was too light to justify a red card, despite the failure to award a caution.