Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) head coach, Fatai Amoo, believes that the excess in added time by centre referee, Felicia Okugbowa from Plateau State, during their Week 2 game against Zamfara United at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano left them to rue the chance of winning away points.
Though Amoo is happy that his side played according to their pre-match plan, he complained that the excess of the actual three minutes of added time played a role in ensuring that Zamfara United grabbed a late equaliser to bag a point.
“Well I wasn’t happy because the centre referee gave more than the three minutes of added time. In the first place there were no stoppages during the game to warrant so much added time,” he said.
The former gaffer of Sunshine Stars also said he approached the fourth official, Aminu Mammaga from Zamfara State, on the excess in the added time but was told “the referee is the custodian of time and I am just doing my own bit from the touch line.”
But the Shooting Stars’ manager thumbed up referee Okugbowa for her commanding style in handling the game in Kano except for the excess in added time.
“I must be very fair to her. She did a very good job in officiating the game from start to finish. The only area I disagree is the amount of added time she gave because there was no such delay during open play.
“There was an instance when Zamfara United scored from an offside position and she correctly cancelled the goal. So she was very fair in her handling of the match but for the added time.
“Yes we have seen this happen even in the best leagues in the world like the English Premier League where referees give even more time to added time. May be they need to let us know what we don’t know about this,” said Amoo.
The 3SC coach explained that the own goal conceded by his side late in the game was soft since Festus Iyoma was under no pressure from the opponents but unfortunately turned the ball into his own net.
No comments:
Post a Comment