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| Sports |
| Bullets dismiss ref bias claims |
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by
Garry Chirwa, 18 June 2003
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18:11:15
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Bakili Bullets on Wednesday came out of their shell and dismissed talk that the recent abandonments of their games have come about because match officials have thrown their weight behind them.
Bullets chair Hassam Jussab instead said his team is too good for local opponents who disrupt games at the pretext of biased officiation.
“The issue is simple and straightforward. We are too good for the other teams in the country. They cannot stand our heat and that is why it has become a routine to cause abandonments at the pretext of biased officiation towards us.
“There is simply no competition...that is why we would like to join regional and continental competitions because we cannot measure our strength on local teams. There is no fun in playing against local teams,” boasted Jussab.
He also said it was high time other teams engaged an extra gear to offer the Bullets stiff competition other than shifting the blame on officiation.
“I can agree if somebody said some of our refs are highly incompetent and not that they are biased towards us,” said Jussab.
He wondered why Eagles did not raise the issue of suspended first assistant referee Paul Mhango before the game, a point that was also raised by one of the club’s trustees Gaston Mwenelupembe.
“Why wait until after the game...did they realise after the match that he was supposed to be on suspension? I personally find it very strange, they are simply trying to fish for an excuse,” said Mwenelupembe.
He also wondered why Eagles did not condemn the behaviour of some of their players who attacked the referee when they were protesting the Bullets’ third goal.
“Why did the police not protect the ref? It was quite obvious that they were trying to send a message that they will not be providing security to match officials who are being attacked by police team players. And if that is the case, then Fam should consider hiring the army to provide securiry whenever there are games involving Blue Eagles,” suggested Mwenelupembe.
Most of the Bullets’ games have ended in controversy in recent times, notable ones being the Carlsberg Cup game against Silver Strikers as well as other league matches against Illovo and Blue Eagles.
Eagles also had their four goals disallowed in a Carlsberg Cup quarterfinal match against the Bullets, triggering talk that the Bullets are being favoured by refs.
,Bakili Bullets on Wednesday came out of their shell and dismissed talk that the recent abandonments of their games have come about because match officials have thrown their weight behind them.
Bullets chair Hassam Jussab instead said his team is too good for local opponents who disrupt games at the pretext of biased officiation.
“The issue is simple and straightforward. We are too good for the other teams in the country. They cannot stand our heat and that is why it has become a routine to cause abandonments at the pretext of biased officiation towards us.
“There is simply no competition...that is why we would like to join regional and continental competitions because we cannot measure our strength on local teams. There is no fun in playing against local teams,” boasted Jussab.
He also said it was high time other teams engaged an extra gear to offer the Bullets stiff competition other than shifting the blame on officiation.
“I can agree if somebody said some of our refs are highly incompetent and not that they are biased towards us,” said Jussab.
He wondered why Eagles did not raise the issue of suspended first assistant referee Paul Mhango before the game, a point that was also raised by one of the club’s trustees Gaston Mwenelupembe.
“Why wait until after the game...did they realise after the match that he was supposed to be on suspension? I personally find it very strange, they are simply trying to fish for an excuse,” said Mwenelupembe.
He also wondered why Eagles did not condemn the behaviour of some of their players who attacked the referee when they were protesting the Bullets’ third goal.
“Why did the police not protect the ref? It was quite obvious that they were trying to send a message that they will not be providing security to match officials who are being attacked by police team players. And if that is the case, then Fam should consider hiring the army to provide securiry whenever there are games involving Blue Eagles,” suggested Mwenelupembe.
Most of the Bullets’ games have ended in controversy in recent times, notable ones being the Carlsberg Cup game against Silver Strikers as well as other league matches against Illovo and Blue Eagles.
Eagles also had their four goals disallowed in a Carlsberg Cup quarterfinal match against the Bullets, triggering talk that the Bullets are being favoured by refs.
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