Benjamin Williams, the controversial Australian referee has been stopped by AFC from removed as the referee of an official scheduled match in Iran.
Williams was supposed to be the referee of Foolad Khuzestan vs. Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the upcoming AFC Champions League match, but after the events of the Iran vs. Iraq match in Asian Cup 2015, the AFC has decided against sending the Australian to Iran.
Williams dismissed Iran’s left back Mehrdad Pooladi after two bookings for two innocuous offenses, both of which were controversial to say the least. The second booking was a flagrant carriage of injustice as seen by many independent observers. That dismissal meant Team Melli playing with 10 men for one entire half.
The AFC like FIFA, never admits to refereeing mistaken nor does it condemn them publicly. However, they do covertly suspend or discipline referees in rare cases where refereeing decision raises much controversy or strong protests. Ben Williams is a prime candidate for dismissal from the tournament after refereeing 3 matches in which he was error prone and whistle happy. Being an Australian has definitely saved his skin in this tournament, despite the fact that many of his compatriot media personalities have spoken against his decisions. Williams was not allocated any matches after the quarter finals and that controversial Iran vs. Iraq match.
Iran’s Alireza Faghani will referee the final match while Bahrain’s Nawaf Shukrallah will referee the playoff match. The two along with Rashvan Irmatov of Uzbekistan are considered to be Asia’s top 3 referees.
