The Group Managing Director of Complete Communications Ltd., publishers of Nigeria's No.1 sports daily Complete Sports, Alhaji Mumini Alao, feels referee Cuneyt Cakir was wrong to have sent Manchester United's Nani off in Tuesday night's Champions League clash with Real Madrid at Old Trafford.
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Nani was sent off by the Turk after he left his boot in Alvaro Arbeloa's midriff and the decision has been the major talking point of an otherwise engrossing encounter which the Spaniards won 2-1 for a 3-2 aggregate win.
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"I think the referee was unfair in giving the red card to Nani," Alao, an ardent supporter of Manchester United's bitter English rivals Liverpool, said yesterday. "I've watched the match again and seen the incident several times. It should never have been a sending off. In fact, I'm not sure it should even have been a yellow card. At worst it should have been a yellow card.
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"Nani's eyes were 100 per cent on the ball as he raised his foot and it was just an unfortunate collision. It was never a red card."
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Real Madrid took advantage of Nani's dismissal to score two quick goals that turned the tie around in their favour.
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Alao feels the result might have been different if Nani had stayed on.
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He added: "Of course the red card had an impact on the match. United had kept Real in check up until that moment and the home side were not really under any threat. It's all hypothetical though, because you never can tell.
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"Would United have been able to keep Real out for all of 90 minutes even with 11 men? United had expended a great deal of effort to contain Real and they might have become tired towards the end and Real could have scored in the last 10 minutes.
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"The truth is we'll never know. The red card had an impact, but anything could still have happened with 11 men on both sides."
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While most pundits (including Everton boss David Moyes and ex-Manchester United captain Bryan Robson) have taken Alao's view on the Nani red card, some (including ex-United midfielder Roy Keane) insist Cakir was right to send the United winger off.