Amman - The first round of the women's football Professional League carried scenes familiar in recent years, with a strong start from Al-Ittihad, which has grown accustomed to asserting itself early with big results, alongside a notable presence of refereeing lapses that accompanied most of the round's matches, opening the door to questions about the level of officiating at the start of the season.
اضافة اعلان
Al-Ittihad did not differ from the picture women's football fans have grown used to in past seasons, after beginning its campaign with a resounding win over Al-Istiqlal, a clean 5-0, confirming early its desire to continue dominating domestic competition, given the clear technical gaps separating the team from a number of its rivals, having won the league title in the last 3 seasons.
Under coach Tareq Al-Mahsiri, Al-Ittihad managed to recover from the poor form that had recently accompanied the team, following its exit from the AFC Champions League qualifying round, and returned strongly to domestic competition by beating Al-Istiqlal with the biggest result of the first round.
The match saw a standout performance from young forward Haya Abu Ali, who managed to score two goals in the game, alongside last season's Women's Professional League best player May Suwailem, who also scored a "brace," while American Carrie Consellino scored the fifth goal.
The gaps between Al-Ittihad and the rest of the teams appeared clear at the technical level, as the team has suffered only two losses in the league over the past 3 seasons, with the first round drawing the outline of the champion early on, given Al-Ittihad's offensive and defensive strength, against the varying levels of the other teams.
In the second match, forward Maysa Jabbara managed to score the fastest goal of the new season, after contributing to her team Amman FC's 2-0 win over Nashama Al-Mustaqbal, having scored the first goal just 50 seconds after the match kicked off, confirming, in her journey with the third local club she's represented after Al-Ittihad and Amman, that she remains a standout presence up front no matter her age.
Away from the results, officiating imposed itself as one of the most notable topics of the first round, after more than one match saw refereeing situations that raised eyebrows, whether through decisions made in ways that sparked controversy, or others lacking the required precision, making the whistle a constant subject of discussion following the matches.
These observations come at a time when the opening round is supposed to present a positive image of the competition, especially given the development Jordanian women's football has been witnessing, and the rising level of competition and interest in the league in recent years.
The match between Al-Orthodoxi and Al-Nasr, which closed out the round and ended in a 1-1 draw, saw numerous controversial refereeing situations, particularly the penalty awarded in Al-Orthodoxi's favor, with doubts surrounding the validity of the decision or where the incident occurred, whether inside or outside the box, alongside the referee showing a red card to an Al-Orthodoxi player before rescinding it and giving her a yellow card instead, along with several other situations that drew the attention of those present, who were surprised by the repetition of strange errors.
The match between Amman FC and Nashama Al-Mustaqbal also saw a strange situation, with offside called on a player who was actually in an onside position, before the whistle sounded to signal offside, after which play continued and was then stopped with a second whistle, and the referee subsequently consulted with the assistant referee about the decision's incorrectness, leading to a drop ball roughly at the center of the pitch, instead of at the location where the ball was when play was stopped.
With the second round set to kick off the day after tomorrow, attention turns to the ability of other teams to close the gap on Al-Ittihad and halt its strong start, while officiating will be required to move away from controversy and raise the level of focus and precision in decisions, ensuring that competition remains on the pitch, away from refereeing errors.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Muhannad Jweiles
