Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 10:07 / Updated Tuesday, February 24, 2026 10:09
Marius Șumudica (54 years old), the coach of Al Okhdood, reacted after suffering the fourth consecutive defeat in the Saudi Arabian championship, 1-2 away to Al Fateh.
The Romanian technician accused that his team had a clear penalty, but it was not awarded, and he talked about the situation in the ranking, where his team is in the penultimate place.
Marius Șumudică accuses the referee after the fourth consecutive defeat: “I have been a coach for 25 years”
“We lost another match. We played well in the first half, but in the second half we were uninspired. Al Fateh players knew very well how to bide their time when they were in the lead. We lost the match because Al Fateh is the better team. I will not speak publicly about any player.
I don't usually talk about refereeing, but I've been a coach for 25 years… No one can convince me that I didn't have a clear penalty, not awarded. We are in a battle to collect points, the championship is very strong. I've been through many difficult matches lately”, said Marius Șumudica at the end of the match, according to nabd.com.
Marius Șumudică took over Al Okhdood on January 5, but managed to get only 5 points in the 11 stages on the team's bench.
The Romanian technician started with a failure, 0-1 at home with Al Ahli, and then managed the first and only victory so far, 1-0 with Al Kholood. Then followed the failure with Al Khaleej, 1-4, after which came the first draw, 2-2 with Al Riyadh.
Şumudica then continued its journey with two defeats, 1-2 with Al-Ittihad and 0-1 with Al-Taawon, after which followed the last point obtained, following the draw with Neom, score 1-1.
Since then, Al Okhdood have lost 4 consecutive matches: 0-6 to Al-Hilal, 1-2 to Al Hazem, 2-4 to Al Qadsiah and 1-2 to Al Fateh.
