The 11th edition of the University of Ghana Football League came to a conclusion with some managers, spectators and players fuming about officiating.
The final match had little to no action throughout but it was a knife edged encounter untill the last minute as finalist debutants, Dr Hilla Limann hall were defeated by the experienced Akuafo hall by 2-1 .
The major talking point from this year’s football league was the performance of the officiating officials as most of the coaches and players complained vehemently against what they deem unfair refereeing decisions.
Speaking to Univers Sports after the game, coach Ebenezer Asamoah sharing his post game thoughts waded into the officiating brouhaha.
“Some of them[referees] have to learn and if they do it makes the game very very beautiful”
his comments were passed as a result of the decisions taken by the referee in the course of the game as he barely flashed out cards and made untimely tackles go unpunished.
The assistant manager of Dr Hilla Limann hall also shared his sentiments in line with the poor officiating,
“well from the look of things today I think the referee should be addressed. The issues of the referee, everyone saw it was not a fair game excuse me to say with all due respect but we have nothing to do we are powerless.”
He further added: “the referee was the only problem”
At some point in the game, The medical team were done with one of the Akuafo hall players and the linesman was signaling to the referee to let him in but his efforts were futile, at the same time Limann hall had a corner to defend so his services were much required.
The referee blew the whistle immediately the ball entered the net hence giving no time to Limann hall to restart the game.
Aside that, the protest of the Limann hall team had to do with an injured player who was ready to come at a time where the stoppage time was long over due yet they were not given the opportunity to restart the game after conceding.
All their appeals fell on deaf ears as the referee stood to his ground and ended the game right away.
At the end of the game , the top scorer of the competition added his voice to the issue of poor officiating.
“when it comes to the officiating aspect it was really really bad because you could tell that ,when you are playing against the favorite team they officiate for their side ,they actually do things favour of the traditional halls”.
Not only was the finals fraught with flawed refereeing decisions but the coaches of the other participating halls also registered their displeasure against officiating and called for FIFA referees to be in charge of games to ensure fair officiating.
The onus lies on the UG sports directorate to review the appointment of referees who get the nod to officiate games in the University of Ghana football league next year.
Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo
