[64] In a major embarrassment for the Oman Football Association (OFA), all its top-division referees boycotted the three-day opening round of the prestigious Omantel Professional League (OPL), which began on 11 September 2014, over a payment issue.

The row over pending bonus payments for the referees had been brewing since the conclusion of the inaugural edition of OPL last season.

and Al-Khaboora SC which was also scheduled to be held on 11 September was postponed to the next day because of the refusal of Omani referees to officiate in the league matches.

The OFA, under the chairmanship of Sayyid Khalid al Busaidy, managed to defuse the crisis by requesting the UAE football body to send match officials to get the OPL started.

[65][66][67] On 11 December 2014, defending champions Al-Nahda failed to turn up against Dhofar in an OPL match at the Al-Saada Stadium in Salalah; the Oman Professional League's Disciplinary Committee handed the result of the abandoned match in favour of Dhofar (3-0) and docked Al-Nahda a total of nine points - three for skipping the 11 December fixture and six more as penalty.

walkout was triggered by the OFA's decision to call off an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), which was originally scheduled for 7 March 2015.

However, the OFA which had previously agreed for an EGM, on 6 March 2015 shelved the summit, citing a letter from the FIFA, football's world governing body.