Vaz Pinto tears into referee after Napsa loss

Gor Mahia head coach Manuel Vaz Pinto was an emotional wreck following his frustrating 2-2 draw against Napsa Stars that dumped them out of the CAF Confederation Cup.

A dubious penalty in the added minutes of additional time compounded K’Ogalo to their third season on the cold, out of the Confederation Cup. 

Pinto called for better officiating in games as most referee decisions have a major impact on players and went on to open up about his family.

“Sometimes people say this is Africa but sorry I do not agree with the saying, we need to stop subject player to this, I heard a lot of things about this game and other referees,” said Pinto.

“I come from Portugal, I have my family, I work a lot, I'm far from my family just to give my family a better life. The players cried a lot in the dressing room, they work a lot and they have families... Its not fair.”

Samuel Onyango opened the scoring for Gor Mahia in the 17th minute before Austin Banda equalized a minute later.

Clifton Miheso put Gor Mahia ahead in the 19th minute but K’Ogalo conceded a 94th-minute penalty that was dispatched by former Southampton midfielder Emmanuel Mayuka.

The Portuguese tactician went on to lambaste the referee for some of the questionable decisions he called in the game. 

“In the final minutes of the game we had one clear chance to score and the last player of Napsa kicked my player if it was fair the referee would have been given a red card but he did not even give yellow,” said Pinto. 

“He called offside which was not offside and we did not score because the linesman raised the flag. He gave four minutes and after that he awarded a penalty,” he added.

Attention for Gor Mahia will now focus on retaining the league title that is under serious threat from Tusker and KCB.