To the CONCACAF Executive Committee
We the undersigned would like to bring your attention to the following problem.
On July 2nd, 2019, the semifinals qualifiers Haiti and Mexico played their match which goes to the overtime with both teams leading 0. Haiti had won all of its last eight competitive matches. This Gold Cup run marked a substantial step forward for the Haitian program, as the country topped its first Gold Cup group and advanced to its first semifinal.
In the Copa America, the game was stopped 200 times for VAR. Video Assistant Referee, four goals were even pulled out of the game because of VAR, and there was no VAR at this tournament. There have been far worse contacts than this one where penalties were not awarded. Besides, repeated replays clearly showed that Jimenez took a dive. This incident clearly underscores the importance of VAR, which would have made the call a lot more credible. It was clear and very strange because it is not what we all know as a penalty kick.
Also, the Mexican player should not have grabbed the ball like that before a call is made. That should be an automatic yellow even if the foul is called.
It is very unfortunate and saddening to see the penalty that took place in overtime was not reviewed by the appropriate officials.
As both countries played hard and competitively, we expected the match to be fair at all times.
We believe the wrong decision was made by the referee, which created a lot of questions and confusion from soccer fans. The Haitian community around the world is strongly requesting that the penalty shot be reviewed and an investigation is carried on the center referee.
According to Liveaboutdotcom:
https://www.liveabout.com/soccer-fouls-3557670
A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any of the following six offenses in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless, or using excessive force:
Kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
Trips or attempts to trip an opponent
Jumps at an opponent
Charges an opponent
Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
Pushes an opponent
A direct free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any of the following offenses:
Tackles an opponent to gain possession of the ball, making contact with the opponent before touching the ball
Holds an opponent
Spits at or bites someone
None of those mentioned above happened during the match from the Haitian team to the opponent.
We there ask that, Abdulrahman Al- Jassim the referee from Qatar should be investigated for corruption. The referee fails to explain his reasoning, which made it very questionable. In a match there will be a winner and a loser. However, we refuse to accept that this how Haiti would eliminate from the tournament.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100024446661575
We would like clear reasoning and response for the game officials.
