KUALA LUMPUR: Lebanon's Mohamad Haidar slammed referee Thoriq Munir Alkatir, accusing him of "killing" their rhythm in Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Harimau Malaya in the Merdeka Tournament final.
Haidar claimed that several of the referee's decisions, including a controversial moment in the 78th minute, handed Malaysia an unfair advantage at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Lebanese players had paused play when a Malaysian player went down injured, but Akhyar Rashid, initially signalling to kick the ball out, instead passed to Arif Aiman Hanapi.
Arif was then fouled by Khalil Khamis, who was then shown a second yellow card, leaving Lebanon down to 10 men.
The incident sparked heated exchanges between officials from both sides.
Haidar was adamant that the referee should have halted the game when the Malaysian player was down.
"In the second half, it felt like the referee was gifting the game to Malaysia. He killed it. We played with fair play from the start, yet when we stopped for an injury, why didn't the referee stop the game?" he fumed.
Lebanon coach Miodrag Radulovic was equally unimpressed, expressing his frustration after the match.
"We are unhappy with the referee's criteria. We came here to play with fair play. There were some unclear situations, but that's football."