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KENYA
NIGERIA
Another weekend gone, another disgruntled set of clubs.
The officiating in our leagues continues to be a problem, or a joke if you look at it in another way.
We have complained severally about this issue, but nothing seems to be done or action taken by the relevant authority (s).
As I have said previously, it is the one and only thing that is holding our game back from exploding into a big entity.
We are growing as a country, but we need the referees on board, otherwise we will always lag behind.
Difficult in Nakuru
Over the past weekend my side, (Finlays Horticulture) was in Nakuru, where I have to say officiating is usually one-sided.
Since we stopped going to Mombasa, Nakuru has emerged as the notorious point in the FKF Division one.
My side was away at Utawala FC and we received the harsh treatment that we have come to expect everytime we are in town.
For the record, we won 1-0, but I still feel aggrieved at what went on.
The game was not even close to being fairly handled, every decision went against us or for the other side and in the end, only God knows how we managed to get the three points.
Shocking decision
Severally this year, there have been cases of coaches and players complaining about the officiating.
We even saw it in the Kenyan Premier League, where AFC Leopards were handed an absolutely shocking decision against Nairobi City Stars.
The decision was so poor that even the players on the ground were stunned into silence.
It looked even worse when it was replayed on television infront of the whole African continent and to make matters worse, the City Stars coach was sent off for protesting. That was a sad day for Kenyan football.
But to this day, what has been done about it? Who pays for such misdeeds?
Need to pay
Amazinlgy, the federation seems not to want to touch that matter. We have written numerous letters and held many a meeting concerning the issue, but the same faces are given the games to handle.
In my opinion, they should be demoting such referees, or even dropping them completely or fining them. Something just has to be done.
It happens all over the world, why not here in Kenya?
Our referees are like their own authority, they answer to no one but themselves. That should not happen in this day and age.
There has to be accountability at all levels.
Performance rated
I beleive that we clubs should do somthing about it ourselves.
We must create a body to oversee the way the referees are performing week in week out.
They must have scores and points and be assesed just like everyone else in this world and handed to the referees authorities to take charge.
At the end of the day, silence about this issue only costs we who work hard to build the game. It does not affect them in any way, we are the ones who suffer.
Performance contracts for referees is a must, or else our football will go back to the dogs.
