Marcus Meloni has said the UAE need to “fight more for our rights” after the violent end to their hopes of direct qualification for the World Cup against Qatar.
The Sharjah midfielder made an impassioned post on social media on Wednesday night, a day after the UAE’s 2-1 loss to Qatar in the qualifier play-off in Doha.
The result had ended the UAE’s chances of making it automatically to the finals in North America next summer.
They still have a chance, via a series of play-off matches starting against Iraq next month, but the path is now a complicated one.
The defeat in Doha was accompanied by scenes of fan violence, with some throwing bottles, cups, shoes and even mobile phones from the stands as Qatar celebrated their goals in front of the UAE section of supporters.
“Still very sad about everything that happened yesterday, and I have to express my feelings,” Meloni wrote.
“There are things in football and in life that are beyond our control, that’s a fact. We know that yesterday we didn’t play one of our best games, that’s part of it.
“Even those who don’t understand football, and watch the game yesterday, could see the scandal that occurred.
“We need to fight more for our rights, we cannot let one person or organisation destroy the dream of an entire country.
“These images were how they treat the people of our country, apparently, football is not only being played on the field.
“To this day I wonder why we don’t play both games in our country. These people didn’t deserve this. But we will continue fighting for you on the field.”
Meloni’s statement echoes the sentiments of Cosmin Olaroiu. The UAE coach pointed out after the game that the organisation of the play-off had been unfairly skewed in Qatar’s favour.
Qatar had finished fourth in the previous round of qualifying, with the UAE third. Olaroiu said the UAE had been under the impression that meant they would have hosting rights for the subsequent play-off.
However, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Fifa awarded the play-off to Qatar instead. They were then given permission to have over 90 per cent of the tickets for each of their matches against the UAE and Oman, rather than an even split.
It is estimated as many as 20,000 UAE supporters made the trip to Doha, despite an official allocation of only around 1,000 tickets for the Qatar fixture.
Qatar’s fixtures were also arranged to be six days apart, while Oman and UAE had just three days between theirs.
Olaroiu said the fact his side did not have “an equal chance” had been “obvious to everyone” and that the organisers had achieved their aim with Qatar qualifying.
So confident had Qatar been of success, they had an open-top bus tour planned for immediately after the match.
It is not uncommon for organisations to arrange celebrations in advance of them happening. What some away supporters found galling was the fact the bus was parked in full view of those attending the game, in front of the nearest metro station to the stadium, ahead of kick off.
Meloni’s post was widely shared among his UAE teammates. Luan Pereira, his Sharjah and national team colleague, wrote in response: “This is not over, brother, they will pay for this.”
Meloni and Pereira have each become key figures in the national team this year. Both were doubtful starters for the play-off in Doha having suffered injury on club duty recently.
Pereira’s involvement was limited to a late substitute appearance against Qatar. Meloni, though, had been outstanding after starting both games against Oman and Qatar.
In the first, he headed the equaliser which set up the fightback 2-1 win against Oman, despite playing right-back.
In the second, he was switched to midfield, and was again the driving force as the UAE controlled 60 per cent of possession against Qatar.
Meloni is generally reticent about speaking in public. He usually turns down media requests for interviews citing the fact he is not confident of speaking in either English or Arabic, with his first language being Portuguese.
However, his statement cemented his hero status among Emirati fans, many of whom have been critical that the UAE Football Association have yet to speak out on the matter.
Neither they, nor the AFC or Qatar Football Association, have yet made an official comment on the matter.
The UAE face an anxious wait to see what ramifications there are for the scenes of crowd unrest.
Julen Lopetegui, the Qatar coach, said the unrest was “dangerous”. The former Spain coach also suggested that a photographer had suffered a head injury because of bottle being thrown by the UAE supporters.
The photographer had his head bandaged by Qatar’s team medical staff after the incident. However, the injury appears to have been suffered by an accidental collision caused by Akram Afif celebrating the second goal.
Afif lifted the Qatar media liaison and carried him, and was unsighted as he bumped into the photographer with some force.
Afif has attracted much criticism from UAE fans for his conduct during and after the game. The Al Sadd winger provided the assist for each of the Qatar goals against the UAE.
Olaroiu had also suggested after the match that the crowd problems had helped Qatar waste time towards the end of the game.
Footage online suggests Afif had played a part in inciting home fans to throw objects onto the field to delay him having to take a corner.
Afif was also central to post-match celebrations by the Qatar team which have also provoked an angry response from UAE supporters.
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