What referee told Bandari players after controversial penalty against Shabana
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 03.02.26. | 19:32
What likely irked the Bandari players more was the fact that the officials had awarded a dubious penalty a few minutes after erroneously disallowing a legitimate goal for offside
Bandari FC midfielder, Geoffrey Ojunga, exhaled the fear of being cautioned and gathered the confidence to seek answers from centre referee, Emmanuel Ochieng, shortly after the whistler blasted the final whistle, after their league match against Shabana, on Sunday, at Gusii Stadium.
The combative midfielder could not fathom watching the referee sneak his way to the changing room before offering, at least, an explanation for the penalty call that bore the match-winning goal for Shabana.
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Ochieng committed, what could be arguably, his biggest career blunder after awarding Shabana a dubious penalty in the 27th minute, having adjudged Clifford Ouma to have handled the ball in the box.
However, television replays exposed his poor positioning and how quickly he fell for calls by Shabana players to penalise Ouma, who had not even come close to handling the ball.
Vexed Bandari players circled Ochieng in protest of the decision, with hard-tackling midfielder Said Tsuma having his name taken for dissent in the process.
What likely irked the Bandari players more was the fact that the officials had awarded a dubious penalty a few minutes after erroneously disallowing a legitimate goal for offside.
The two major refereeing gaffes proved decisive, as Brian Michira buried the controversial spot kick to break Bernard Mwalala's unbeaten start at Bandari. Prior to the game played on Sunday, Mwalala had led Bandari to three wins and a draw.
While the rest of the Bandari players proceeded for the warm-down session after the final whistle, Ojunga walked straight to Ochieng to seek clarification on the two first-half calls.
In an exclusive interview with Mozzart Sport, the former Sofapaka man revealed that what Ochieng uttered during the brief exchange was an apology to the crestfallen Dockers.
"He acknowledged his mistakes and those of his assistants. He apologised for the calls and requested to pass his regret to the rest of the team," disclosed Ojunga.
Skipper Andrew Juma, as well as Ouma, the man wrongly penalised for the penalty, confirmed that the referee, in fact, apologised.
Ochieng’s verbal apology did little to calm the simmering anger in the Bandari camp, as Chief Executive Officer Tony Kibwana confirmed that an official complaint had been lodged with the Football Kenya Federation.
“We acknowledge that to err is human, and officiating competitive matches comes with its own challenges. However, we had reason to believe the officials were unjust, given the two major mistakes made in the first half. We have requested FKF to review the match and take corrective measures,” said Kibwana.
When asked about the poor officiating in their 1–0 win over Kenya Police FC a week earlier, Kibwana said the match featured in their submission to FKF.
During the encounter, Bandari players escaped potential red-card offences, while Kenya Police had a strong penalty appeal turned down, among other questionable decisions made by the officials.
“We also witnessed poor officiating in our home match against Kenya Police, where questionable decisions were made against them.
Similar issues have been observed in matches involving other teams. Poor officiating undermines players' confidence, affects the integrity of the competition, and goes against the spirit of fair play.
We have asked FKF to address these concerns and enhance the training and development of our referees,” added Kibwana.
