Libya requests World Cup replay after discovering referee’s wife is from Tunisia
The Libyan Football Federation has reportedly demanded that the
Football governing body (FIFA) orders a replay of their World Cup
qualifier against Tunisia as the Kenyan referee who officiated the game
is married to a Tunisian woman.
According to a report in the English-language Libya Observer, “The
Libyan Football Federation lodged a request to the sports court of the
FIFA asking for a rematch with the Tunisian team as part of the second
round of the World Cup qualifiers, as the Kenyan referee was proved to
be married to a Tunisian woman and is living in there.”
It was gathered that the refereeing of the match, held on 11 November
2016, was controversial, with an early Libyan goal being wrongly
disallowed for off-side, the Libyan captain being sent off early in the
second half and the Tunisians scoring the winner from the penalty spot.
While speaking to journalists after the game, Libya’s coach, Jalal Damja blamed the loss on “poor officiating.”
The referee, Davies Omweno who' s considered the best referee in
Kenya and his assistant Berhe O’Michael from Eritrea, were handed
three-month suspensions by CAF following the match.
According to the CAF referees’ committee, they cited poor
performance, wrong positioning, and movement. They also cited incorrect
identification of fouls and failure to administer some disciplinary
sanctions as the reasons for Omweno’s suspension.
O’Michael was found guilty of poor performance in identifying offside decisions including one that denied Libya a valid goal.
This also relates to the similar situation of the 2018 World Cup
qualifier clash between South Africa and Senegal after it was
manipulated by Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey.
He has been banned for life with the match expected to be replayed in November.
No comments
Your comments and Encouragement are welcome