Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly has expressed his displeasure about the refereeing decisions during Al Hilal’s quarter-final match against Fluminense in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
The experienced centre-back started for his Saudi Pro League club on Friday evening when they faced the formidable Brazilian opponent.
In a game where Al Hilal had many chances, the club only managed to convert one and ended up losing 2-1 to Fluminense at the end of the 90 minutes.
Speaking in a post-match interview, Al Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly slammed referee Makkelie for making ‘biased’ calls and costing his side the result that would have propelled them to the semi-finals.
The Senegalese stated that regardless of his team’s elimination from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the players are proud of what they achieved at the tournament.
“We are proud of ourselves because we can only be defeated by decisions like these, in which the referee robbed us of the win. When we talk to the referee, he shows yellow cards, and when the Fluminense players talk, he discusses things with them with ease,” Kalidou Koulibaly said after the game.
