The draw decides Oman’s qualification to the Gulf 27 semi-finals after being equal with Iraq in all criteria

Jassim Al-Rumaihi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Football Association, confirmed that resorting to a lottery to decide the qualification ticket between the Omani and Iraqi teams is an unprecedented event in the history of the Gulf Cup tournaments, after the two teams were equal in the criteria specified for separating them.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Rumaihi said: “According to my knowledge and the information available to me, this is the first time such a situation has occurred, with the two teams being equal in goals and warnings. It is usual for there to be a difference in a goal or a warning, but for the two teams to be equal in all of these matters, this is the first time this has happened.

Al-Rumaihi congratulated the Saudi and Omani teams for reaching the semi-finals, and also congratulated Qatar and the UAE for their qualification, hoping that their confrontation in the final round would appear in a manner befitting the reputation of Gulf football.

Regarding the state of controversy that followed the end of the two matches of the final round of the first group, after it was believed that the Omani team had qualified before the draw was announced, Al Rumaihi said: “According to the information I have, it was said that the Omani team had been declared qualified, but the matter had not been decided in the official manner. Everyone was supposed to wait until the official announcement from the Competitions Committee, after confirming all criteria, whether goals or warnings.”

He added: “I cannot describe what happened as a mistake, but it was a kind of haste, and such things may happen and be corrected.”

Regarding the procedures that preceded the draw, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Federation explained that the Competitions Committee reviewed all the details before adopting the final decision, saying: “It is always customary for the Competitions Committee to verify all procedures, and I thank the members of the committee and Dr. Khaled Al-Muqrin, Chairman of the Committee, for their work. All procedures were confirmed, and representatives of the two federations were invited, and the details of the situation were explained to them before the draw was held, in the presence of a large media presence and sports channels.

Moroccan Tariq Al-Saktiwi, coach of the Omani national team, confirmed that his team's last confrontation was decisive and cannot be divided into two, pointing out that the lead goal scored by the Kuwaiti national team increased the difficulty of the match before the team returned and took advantage of its chances to score.

Tariq Al-Saktiwi, coach of the Oman national team, said in the press conference: For us, the match was not divisible into two. The danger in the match was that we were required to score the largest number of goals, and Kuwait scoring the goal was difficult for us in the match, but we created many chances and were able to score.

Al-Saktiwi added: I came here to serve Omani football, and I work selflessly and accept media criticism for not including some players, but I always make my choices with a conscience.

In a historic precedent at the tournament level, the draw was conducted in the AlUla Hall of the Intercontinental Hotel in Jeddah, to determine the team that qualified for the 27th Gulf semi-final, for Oman, to officially advance, along with Al-Akhdar, from the first group in the runner-up position and set a date on Saturday with the winner of the second group in the tournament.

The Competitions Committee of the Gulf Football Federation held its meeting under the chairmanship of Dr. Khaled Al-Muqrin after Oman achieved a huge surprise and was able to equal Iraq on points and goals in the first group of the 27th Gulf Cup in Jeddah, forcing the Lions of Mesopotamia to go through a lottery to determine who qualifies with the Saudi team to the semi-finals of the tournament.

After the end of the draw, and in the midst of Omani joy, voices of Iraqi anger rose amid accusations that Oman was notified in advance on the field of its qualification, which was denied by the head of the Gulf Competitions Committee, who confirmed that the entire matter was subject to the tournament regulations and that both parties were clearly informed of all procedures.

Musab Al-Shaqsi’s celebration of the third goal caused Oman to lose direct qualification to the semi-finals of the Gulf Cup “with a difference of cards” over Iraq after they were equal in points and goals. The closing night of the first group matches in “Gulf 27” witnessed an exciting drama after Iraq lost to the host Saudi team with a score of 0-2. On the other hand, Oman beat Kuwait with a score of 3-1 so that the Saudi team qualified from the top spot with a full score (9 points).

The balance of Iraq and Oman stopped at 4 points, in addition to being equal in the number of goals scored and received, as well as equal in the number of yellow cards, 8-8.

It is noteworthy that Al-Shaqsi's teammates tried to dissuade him from taking off his shirt in order to avoid the yellow card and rise to the "Fair Play" runner-up, one card ahead of Iraq, but the player's crazy joy overcame the scene and the referee announced the yellow card and Oman was forced to wait and watch for the result of the draw.