By Andrew Gourdie
Oceania Football is set to take action following last night's heated World Cup qualifier between New Zealand and Tahiti in Christchurch.
The All Whites maintained their unbeaten record on the road to Brazil with a 3-0 win, but the match was overshadowed by poor refereeing and some ugly scenes at the final whistle.
There were scenes which can only be described as embarrassing, and in the dying moments of their match against the All Whites, Tahiti completely lost control.
Solomon Islands referee Gerald Oiaka never did. He allowed the chief antagonist – Tahiti captain Nicholas Vallar - to escape punishment as he blew the fulltime whistle
Today Oceania officials admitted Oiaka was out of his depth. He failed to control the hostile visitors who were clearly out to provoke, yet only one Tahitian made it into the referee's book.
But All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen had no problems with the referee.
“I thought the referee was - what we're used to and compared to - very good tonight, so you take it from there.”
Oceania Football admit they're concerned about the quality of officiating for World Cup qualifying, and they hope to have referees from Asia for the final round of qualifiers in March.
Last night, the All Whites took the referee out of the equation. After Michael McGlinchey opened the scoring in the third minute, they dominated - but didn't secure victory until the 90th minute.
Chris Killen tapped home, before McGlinchey capped his best performance in an All Whites shirt in style.
The 3-0 win means the All Whites can finish top of Oceania qualifying with victory over New Caledonia in March.
The only concern for the coach was that nine of his players are one yellow card away from a suspension.
With an intercontinental playoff on the horizon, coach Ricki Herbert could instruct all nine to pick up a booking against New Caledonia, allowing their one match ban to be served in the final qualifying match against the Solomon Islands - a match that's on track to be a dead rubber.
“You kind of have to use it don't you,” Herbert says. “I mean if we can wipe the slate clean, probably not a bad place to look.”
All he needs now is a referee who'll dish them out.
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