‘Lubumbashi Ref The Worst In 35 Years’

[Folami David]

Orlando Pirates coach Roger de Sa on Monday described the referee in Sunday's bizarre Caf Champions League second-leg tie against TP Mazembe in the DRC as "the worst I have seen in 35 years of competitive sport."
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A 10-man Buccaneers team lost the game in Lubumbashi 1-0, but qualified for the last eight group stage of the competition on a 3-2 aggregate as a result of their 3-1 win in the first-leg at Orlando Stadium.
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De Sa, one of a handful of South Africans who has represented the country in the three different sporting codes - soccer, indoor soccer and basketball - said the degree of bias exhibited by the Seychelles referee was "beyond belief.
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"It was a nightmare. I never thought I would experience anything like it during my sporting career," he said.
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"Apart from the two gift penalties awarded to Mazembe - both saved in breathtaking fashion by Senzo Meyiwa - and the inexplicable sending off of our captain Lucky Lekgwathi in the first half, we were under siege as a result of the actions of the referee for the entire match.
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"As the match progressed unabated in this same manner, I began to ask myself: 'is this really happening? Is it sport?' And if it is, I'd rather not have any part of it."
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After Meyiwa saved the second penalty in the 90th minute, the game carried on for a further eight minutes De Sa said he was praying the referee would not award a third spot-kick against Pirates.
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"I'm not one who believes sporting contests are influenced by divine intervention," said the Pirates coach, "but while my players put up an extraordinary brave performance under the circumstances, I could not help thinking at times somebody up their must like us and had come to our assistance in overcoming the uneven odds.
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"Even the partisan Mazembe supporters in the packed 30 000 crowd applauded us off the pitch at the end because they realised what was taking place - and yet their team was still not able to secure the extra goal that would have taken them into the next round of the competition."
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De Sa said it was an "extreme irony" that the actions of the referee might well have ultimately cost Mazembe, twice winners of the competition in the past three years, a place in the next round.

[Folami David]