Yanga’s Information and Communications Manager, Ally Kamwe, has raised serious questions following the recent decisions made by the 72-hour committee regarding the Kariakoo Derby match.
The 72-hour committee suspended assistant referees 1 and 2 for failing to properly interpret the laws of football. Kamwe said that although the referees were punished under the same regulation, 42:1(1.8), their suspensions were not the same.
“The 72-hour committee delivered its verdict on assistant referees 1 and 2 in the match between Yanga SC and Simba SC after they failed to properly interpret Law 11 [Offside].”
“The referees were punished under the same regulation 42:1(1.8), but one has been suspended for six months while the other received a three-month ban. We want to know what kind of ‘science’ was used to analyze these punishments differently when both made the same mistake of failing to interpret the same law. Does our committee have the ‘science’ to see the future and determine that Prince Dube would not have scored the clear chance he had?”
“According to FIFA laws, a valid goal is only the one that is allowed by the central referee. Otherwise, there is no committee, law, or regulation with the authority to declare a goal valid if it was not approved by the central referee. The statement that Simba were denied a ‘valid goal’ has caused confusion among the public. We have written to the committee asking where it obtained the authority to publicly declare that the goal was valid.”
“In the match between KMC FC and Simba SC, Selemani Mwalimu scored a goal while he was in an offside position. The same committee that said a valid goal had been denied remained silent about the fact that an invalid goal had been allowed. Also, the assistant referee in that match was not suspended as happened with the assistants in the derby match,” Kamwe said.
Kamwe also pointed to other matches where referees made mistakes in interpreting the laws of football but no action was taken against them.
“In many Yanga SC matches involving mistakes related to Law 11 (Offside), this committee has been very quick to suspend referees. But when such incidents negatively affect Yanga, the committee becomes silent.”
“For example, in the match between Yanga and JKT, referee Glory Tesha stopped two clear Yanga scoring opportunities claiming our players were offside. However, video replays showed that those players were not in an offside position. Up to now, the committee has not taken any action against the referees involved.”
Kamwe said Yanga are waiting for responses to all the issues they have raised from the League Board. Once the board responds, the club will inform its fans and members, and if no response is given, they will also inform them that no answer was provided.
