Ineptitude of KPL referees exposed, but who bothers?
None of the 16 center referees, 24 assistant referees and 16 match commissioners drafted to officiate this year’s Kenyan Premier League matches is accredited by FIFA, Nairobi News can now reveal.
This was confirmed by FKF’s head of technical committee Elly Mukolwe, who said none of the match officials under the KPL match officials’ list has undergone the mandatory tests required of top flight league referees, which is a violation of the FIFA statutes.
“They know very well that it is true. I can say without fear of reprimand that many of those referees have been brought back from retirement, some failed even the local Member Association fitness test.
“Referees handling the top flight league are supposed to be approved solely by the federation, but as head of technical committee I have no idea where some of these match officials come from or which qualification tests they have undergone,” he said on Monday in a telephone interview.
SHARP CRITICISM
Center referee Raphael Nduati and his two assistants have faced sharp criticism from Gor Mahia fans for their “amateurish” decisions during Sunday’s match involving joint title contenders Sofapaka and Gor Mahia
The match ended in a goalless draw but was marred by violent scenes and questionable officiating decisions.
The match was stopped for close to ten minutes during the second half with Nduati and his assistants being pelted with water bottles after Sofapaka’s Abdul Fiston appeared to have smacked Gor defender Dirkir Glay on the face but was only handed a yellow card when the fans expected a straight red card.
And then there was a ball-to-hand incident earlier in the match involving Gor defender Abouba Sibomana which would have earned Batoto ba Mungu a penalty, but which escaped the sight of referee Nduati.
NO QUALIFIED REFEREES
KPL head of referees GMT Ottieno accepts that the league body does not have qualified referees, but says that this takes nothing away from the quality of officiating in the top flight league.
“We are not using FIFA referees, but that is because the federation has made it impossible for us to assign them to our league. We have no problem using the accredited referees but somebody from the federation has refused completely to acquire their services.
“That, however, should not be cause for alarm because even if we could use FIFA accredited referees, we could not use them in all our matches. The derby for example was officiated by a non-elite referee, but everyone went home satisfied.
“AFC Leopards lost their match to Ushuru in a match that wasn’t officiated by a FIFA accredited referee but they took the defeat. Why do Gor Mahia fans feel they must win a match?” he said in his rejoinder.