Uzbekistan lodges protest with FIFA over referee's decision

Website of the Asian Football Confederation September 5 The Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) has lodged an official protest with FIFA against Japanese referee Toshimitsu Yoshida's decision to negate a penalty successfully taken during their World Cup Asian zone playoff against Bahrain here on Saturday. Uzbekistan won the match 1-0. UFF sources told www.the-afc.com that the federation has asked the FIFA to increase their victory margin to 3-0 and appoint a European referee in place of China's Sun Baojie for the second leg to be played in Manama on September 7. The referee awarded a penalty to Uzbekistan after Bahrain's Mohamed Juma handled the ball inside the area. Server Djeparov successfully converted the chance but the referee signaled a foul as Uzbek defensive midfielder Timur Kapadze had invaded the box before the penalty was taken. Instead of allowing Uzbeks a re-take, Toshimitsu overruled the goal and gave Bahrain a freekick. Meanwhile, a confident Uzbekistan team reached Manama on Sunday for their return leg encounter. Their key defender Nikolay Shirshov, who was serving a suspension, will take the field on Wednesday. The winner of the Asian zone playoff will go up against the fourth-placed CONCACAF team in yet another two-legged playoff for a place in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. P.S. However, sources in the UFF told UzLand.Info that the first play-off match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain may be replayed in Tashkent on Oct. 8 with the second match being played in Bahrain on Oct. 12. A press official at FIFA told UzLand.Info that the final decision has not been reached yet and the issue is still under consideration.