Panama federation calls Gold Cup refereeing ’insulting’

PANAMA CITY – The Panamanian Football Federation has demanded the removal of CONCACAF’s referee selection panel after describing the officiating in the Gold Cup semifinal loss to Mexico as “insulting and embarrassing.”

The FPF, in a statement on Thursday, also accused the match officials of favoring Mexico “in a vulgar and shameless way.”

In the bad-tempered semi in Atlanta on Wednesday, Panama forward Luis Tejada was red-carded in the 24th minute, but the team led 1-0 until stoppage time when Roman Torres was penalized for a hand-ball. Mexico converted that penalty, and another in extra time to win 2-1.

After the match, the Panamanian players posed for a photo under a banner calling CONCACAF corrupt thieves. The charges come as CONCACAF is reeling from the indictment of two former presidents as part of the FIFA corruption scandal.