NSL officiating criticised after Kabati Youth vs MOFA was temporarily halted

The incident occurred in the 67th minute, moments after the hosts, Kabati Youth, converted a penalty to level the score.

Instead of running towards the corner flag to celebrate the equalizer, Kabati players hurried to restart the match, but MOFA players delayed the play by blocking opponents from picking the ball from the net, leading to a brief confrontation between the two sides.

The centre referee intervened and booked two players from each team for unsporting behaviour.

However, confusion arose when MOFA staff stormed the pitch, insisting that one Kabati player had already been cautioned earlier and should have been sent off.

The referee paused play to consult with both teams and the officials amid loud protests from the home supporters, who chanted against MOFA FC.

The play resumed after a long argument and ended in a 1-1 draw.

MOFA FC boss Charles Bruno later expressed disappointment with the officiating, saying the confusion stemmed from poor record-keeping by the referee.

“The incident, honestly, I just want to say that I am disappointed. I don’t want to talk much about officiating, I don’t like criticizing the referees, before ho is a referee I understand he is a human being and sometimes it’s hard,” he said.

However, Kabati Youth team manager Geoffrey Waweru defended the referee’s decision, clarifying that the two bookings involved different players.

“Referees are human beings and human beings are to error, they can make mistakes but when you listen to them, you will understand. In this case, the player who was booked after the penalty was not the one who was booked earlier, only that they were close when the referee issued the card and our opponents thought otherwise,” Waweru told Citizen Digital.

After the disappointing results, MOFA FC now sits fifth in the NSL standings with eight points from five matches, while Kabati Youth are left in the 19th place with just two points.