Israel Saria
Simba Sports Club has expressed dissatisfaction over the appointment of referee Oden Mbaga who is supposed to officiate their first leg of the Mainland derby against archrivals Young Africans on Saturday.
A statement from the club’s information officer Ezekiel Kamwaga availed to the Guardian states that the club would not boycott the match but rather pay under protest.
The press releases states that Mbaga has previously shown weakness when he officiated a return leg derby during the previous season.
The statement goes on to highlight that Mbaga clearly showed confusion and incompetence when he at the first instance disallowed an equalising goal by Musa Mgosi before overturning the decision amid protest from players, fans and television replays.
Basing on that fault Simba will be fielding the team at the Stadium without confidence of the referee in terms of impartiality.
The statement did not suggest any other referee for the game but the selection of Mbaga stand as a pre-match fever for the club.
Mbaga is a FIFA approved referee who has been selected to officiate the match together with two other linesmen, match commissioner and referee assessor.
Mbaga will be assisted by two other linesmen Hamis Chang’walu and John Kanyenye, all sanctioned by FIFA.
Arusha-based Soud Abdi has been tasked with assessing the performance of the referee and linesmen during the derby.
Former national team player Mohamed Nyange will travel all the way from Dodoma for the task of match commissioner.
Simba are leading the pack of the 14-team league with 27 points, opening a six-point gap over archrivals Young Africans.
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