Zlatko Zahovic congratulates Alberto Riera, but also stabs him, saying he is winning with Olimpija thanks to the referees
On Saturday, the Stožice stadium will host the 150. the eternal derby between Olimpija and Maribor. The Dragons will go into the showdown with their old rival from a much better position. It’s true that they lost 1:6 away to city rival Bravo last weekend, but Maribor also lost at home to Koper. Moreover, the point difference between the two clubs is really big, with Olimpija trailing Maribor by 13 points.
Before the derby, long-time Maribor sport director Zlatko Zahović also spoke to Sportal and in his own style added some fuel to the already heated atmosphere. Among other things, he congratulated Olimpija coach Alberto Riera for the results he is achieving, but at the same time he could not get out of his own skin, as he suggested without a hair on his tongue that the Spaniard is also being helped by the referees.
The rules are on very thin ice
“It is clear that Riera has had to deal with a big scene in his career. Things go his way and then everything is easier. He has a lot of credit, he joined Olimpija with his right foot. He has no reason to be dissatisfied with his team and with the refereeing. Then it’s easier,“, the all-time top scorer of the Slovenian national team told Sportal.
Zahović continued to talk about the referees and said that Maribor was more than obviously a victim of bad refereeing. This was also the case in the last match against Koper. “The fact is that the refereeing errors were in favour of Koper and against Maribor. There is no doubt about that. Sam Pridgar’s red card is questionable, as is the goal by Žan Benedičič. The refereeing rules are on very thin ice and can be interpreted one way or another. Just the way someone wants them,” says Zahović.
Great distrust in judges
The retired footballer, who is giving up his job after parting ways with Maribor, is also convinced that there are far more refereeing decisions against the Violistas than against their great rivals from Ljubljana: “It’s hard to say that this is normal and not at all random. But this has been going on since the time of president Jože Jagodnik (he was Maribor’s first man until 2002, and under his leadership the Violets celebrated their first great success, breaking through to the Champions League in the 1999/2000 season), for a couple of decades now. That’s when things started happening between Maribor and the refereeing organisation. In Maribor, there is still a great distrust of judges … I hope this stops for once. This would be most welcome for the actors, as what has happened in the last two years has turned into something it should not have. Even though VAR has come among us, some things are really obvious.”
Source of the photo: YouTube (BKTVkanal) – screenshot
This text was automatically translated using AI.
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