MFA general secretary Bjorn Vassallo was very critical of the performance of Ukrainian referee Yevhen Aranovskiy in Malta’s 5-1 defeat to Scotland, saying his decisions in the second half ruined the game for our national team.
Aranovskiy incurred the wrath of the home players and fans after he wrongly dismissed defender Jonathan Caruana for a non-existent foul on Chris Martin and, from the ensuing penalty, Scotland scored to go 3-1 up and put the game to bed.
Caruana’s sending-off was not the only decision that infuriated the Maltese team as many claimed that, in the build-up to Scotland’s second goal, scored by Chris Martin, Andrè Schembri had been kneed in his lower back but Aranovskiy allowed play to continue.
“I’m very disappointed,” Vassallo told Times of Malta.
“We had a great build-up as our aim was to start this World Cup qualifying competition in the best way possible.
“I’m not disappointed about our players, because they clearly gave their all, nor with the Maltese sporting public, those who were at the stadium as well as the fans who watched the game on television.
“I’m gutted about the referee because, for 45 minutes, his decisions consistently penalised one team on the pitch… our team.
“My comments are not dictated by emotions because the game is in the past now, but I’ve followed and read what the technical experts said and one can safely say that the referee’s performance in the second half had a massive impact on the result.”
The sense of injustice at Caruana’s expulsion lingered on yesterday with many fans asking whether his red card can be overturned through the use of video evidence, but Vassallo said this is not possible.
“Unfortunately, there is no remedy for the referee’s mistakes,” Vassallo explained.
“If anything, these unhappy experiences should spur us to unite further.
“We can only analyse our mistakes, the rest is beyond our control.
“We have two important, difficult games in a few weeks’ time and it’s important that we go there with the best players available.”
FIFA’s sanctions against Caruana and Luke Gambin, who was expelled in stoppage time of Sunday’s qualifier, are expected to be announced later this month.
Under the FIFA disciplinary code, only suspensions exceeding two games can be appealed.
Two years ago, Malta defender Steve Borg was handed a three-match ban after being sent off for lashing out at Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic in a Euro 2016 qualifier.
Michael Mifsud was suspended for two games following his dismissal for a late challenge on Alessandro Florenzi in the 1-0 defeat to Italy in October 2014.