Panama FA president blasts 'very questionable' CONCACAF officiating
The president of Panama's FA vowed to fight for reform and transparency in CONCACAF after his country's national team was beaten earlier this week in a controversial Gold Cup semifinal.
Pedro Chaluja conducted a news conference Friday to address the confederation's handling of Panama's 2-1 extra-time loss to Mexico, calling the integrity of Wednesday's match into question.
"What has happened with the officiating is lamentable and very questionable," he said during the news conference. "We perceive that this match was manipulated, and not by the Mexican federation, but there are interested third parties."
American referee Mark Geiger gave forward Luis Tejeda a direct red card in the first half and whistled Roman Torres for handball in the box as the match entered stoppage time with the Central Americans leading 1-0. After a long delay, Andres Guardado converted the penalty kick and added a second in extra time to send Mexico through to the final.
"The bad refereeing decisions were deliberate and with the intention of protecting the third parties," Chaluja said. "These events only can be decrypted if FIFA and CONCACAF join together to carry out a through investigation into the development that referee Mark Geiger was so unfavorable and ended up robbing the victory and the dreams of all Panamanians."
Chaluja and the FA released a statement after the match demanding CONCACAF to reform its referee committee and said he will continue to push for change, even though he doesn't know how much he can do.
"We feel impotent and furious," he said during the news conference. "They've robbed us."
PRO Referees, which oversees officials for league matches in the United States and Canada, supported Geiger earlier this week.
"One inconsistent performance does not make a referee a poor referee," the organization's general manager, Peter Walton, told ESPNFC. "Geiger is a very good referee and has proved that on numerous occasions. PRO will fully support him and his standing with PRO has not been [affected] by this performance."
Still, Chaluja repeated the call to make a change, saying since he's a businessman first and official second, he could speak freely without concern about losing his position on the CONCACAF Executive Committee and other regional committees on which he serves.
"You must change the entire CONCACAF Referee Committee. We have to demand things are investigated thoroughly," he said, later noting he "would not be part of a corrupt regime."
Though the entire federation is upset with the situation and result, the president said it would follow the appeal process for sanctions from CONCACAF's Disciplinary Committee if they are handed down to Panamanian players.
Chaluja said he had spoken with Mexican FA president Justino Compean, who supported an investigation and improvements.
Amid rumors the team could boycott the third-place match, Panama's players sent a news release to their fans.
“The Panamanian national team, in the midst of its pain, will turn up with dignity and continue forward in this Gold Cup for its country, for respect for our rival in the third place match and for all of you who believe that this sport is good despite some who want to turn it into something totally different from its nature," part of the statement read.
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