The second round of football in Uganda started on a heated note (in terms of officiating) in all Fufa competitions right from the top tier, the Uganda Premier League throught to the Women’s Super League and the Uganda Cup.
In the Premier League, we saw seasoned match officials in the 2nd round opener which involved Wakiso Giants and KCCA FC at Kabaka Kyabaggu make a mind-blowing decision.
Assistant referee Ronald Katenya made an offside call against KCCA’s Rogers Mato who had pounced and scored from a seemingly offside position but after protests from the visiting team’s players, it appeared as though the assistant whispered to the referee Ali Sabilla about Lawrence Bukenya who had confused him to be the 2nd last opponent.
As per IFAB laws of the game, a player who leaves field of play unintentionally will be considered to be on the field of play by the match officials.
However, Katenya forgot that Wakiso Giants goalkeeper Samson Kirya had exchanged positions with Bukenya, which made him the 2nd last defender or opponent and Bukenya the last defender, who was literally on the same line with Mato the scorer.
With only Bukenya behind the goalkeeper in this scenario, Mato was offside and so the goal shouldn’t have stood.
But question marks arise over Fifa badge holder Ali Sabilla for waving a genuine penalty appeal as Allan Okello was fouled in the lead-up to the entire circus.
With the Head of referees in Africa on the scene, Sabilla didn’t do himself any good and that could be the reason he was removed from the final list of officials at the ongoing AFCON U-20 tournament in Egypt.
On the same match day, the game between Gaddafi and SC Villa in Kakindu also produced another questionable decision when newly decorated Fifa Assistant Referee Timothy Gumisiriza who was assisting Caf Elite A Fifa referee Shamirah Nabadda flagged offside a legit goal which left the technical bench of SC Villa in flames, the games ended in a draw.
Shockingly, Nabadda who had been in charge of the Gaddafi-Villa game was the one in charge barely 12 hours later.
Deep into the 2nd half, the guests sought to have an equalizer from substitute Ronah Nantege who was fouled by Kampala Queens’ Akiror approximately two meters inside the 18-yard box but Nabadda waved play on and the game ended 2-0 in favour of the host.
The climax came in the round of 32 of the prestigious Stanbic Uganda Cup fixture which saw holders BUL take on traditional giants SC Villa at Njeru.
A would-be SC Villa equaliser scored by Charles Bbale was ruled offside by assistant referee Muyaga Khalid and in the end, Villa got eliminated as BUL went on to win 1-0.
Social media was awash with Villa fans and football fraternity posting the video of the goal and this prompted the FA to issue a statement on the matter through the Fufa Referees Standing Committee chairman Brian Miiro and the consequence was the indefinite suspension of Muyaga for failure to do his duties well.
So for many, the question is whether referees just consistently have bad days in office or they are influenced to make the wrong decisions.
Just like athletes, referees set out to perform well in front of their assessors but at the end of the day end up scoring average or below expectations.
What causes the men in black to consistently make questionable decisions and perform below expectation has a series of reasons which can take a whole day to expound – from facilitation, motivation and many more.
But from a fan’s perceptive which may be right or wrong, a referee may be influenced by either teams or an outside agent as in the case of John Kalibbala who was banned for 15 years for match-fixing a few months back.
But can bad days at office cause failure to interpret the laws of the game, poor movement and positioning on the field, and wrong application of the laws of the game?
As Matchday 17 in the UPL unfolds on Tuesday, our eyes will be on these men in black again and hopefully, they execute their duties to everyone’s satisfaction.
