Leadership (Abuja)
Salifu Usman
22 July 2008
After Peoples Elephant, Enyimba of Aba painfully lost to Al-Hilal of Sudan last Friday 3-2, Enyimba FC chairman, Felix Anyasi Agwu has placed the blame on the poor officiating of the referee.
Enyimba chairman hit out at the standard of African referees, after he saw his side lose 3-2 to Al- Hilal in Sudan in the African Champions League.
The two-time African champions side had a man sent off and conceded a controversial penalty in the Group B game last Friday in Omdurman, drawing negative criticism.
After the game, Agwu felt his side were unlucky with the decisions and said: "That's why African referees can't go forward.
The referees were meant to come from South Africa but I don't know why they changed them (the officials eventually came from Egypt).
When you have referees with the same kind of background it normally shows.
I don't want to criticise the referee but everyone saw his calls, some of which were uncalled for."
Agwu believes that the standard of officiating needs to be addressed ahead of South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup.
"This is not good for African football; we are having the World Cup in 2010 - they should live up to expectations.
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