The Asian Football Confederation has officially referred the protest file submitted by the management of the UAE's Shabab Al Ahli Club to the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee. This comes in light of the controversial refereeing incidents that occurred during the team's match against Japan's Machida Zelvia in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite.

The Japanese team qualified for the final match of the first club championship in the Yellow Continent, and is set to face the titleholder Al-Ahli Saudi on Saturday, unless something new occurs.

The protest by the Emirati club was based on a "technical error" in the application of the game's rules during the final minutes of the match, specifically in the situation where Shabab Al Ahli's equalizing goal was disallowed.

The club's legal management argues that the officiating team allowed play to resume before completing the standard administrative procedures, which makes the replay of the match a legal requirement according to continental competition regulations.

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Asian Federation confirmed that the committee is reviewing all reports submitted by the match observer and the refereeing team, in addition to the recorded footage from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, to ensure the integrity of the competition and to give everyone their due rights before the final match.

It is noted that the Shabab Al Ahli delegation decided to extend their stay in the city of Jeddah while awaiting the final decision, amid great anticipation from the fans about the outcome in the coming hours, with hopes for either a rematch or administrative justice for the team.