Times Of Swaziland: SWALLOWS DROP  CAF COMPLAINT

SWALLOWS DROP  CAF COMPLAINT
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BY BHEKISISA MAGONGO on 21/04/2017 09:17:00


MBABANE – Mbabane Swallows have abandoned their complaint to CAF on the bad
refereeing they allegedly received in Congo against AC Leopard.
The club had filed papers with the Confederations of African Football CAF
through the National Football Association (NFAS), complaining about Burundian
referees who handled their ill-fated CAF Confederations Cup playoff first leg
match in Dolssie two weeks ago.
The team lost 0-1 to the Congolese giants, in a result that was marred by
controversial decisions.
One of those was a seemingly genuine goal by DRC winger Kingu Mydo, on the
stroke of full-time that was surprisingly ruled offside by the first assistant
referee Kakunze Herve, despite television replays showing that the player was
onside when he smashed home a well weighted Banele Pupu Sikhondze’s cross.
Mbabane Swallows acting CEO Sibusiso Manana, confirmed that the team was no
longer pursuing the complaint after winning the second leg 4-2 to advance on 4-3
aggregate for the group stages of the tournament, whose will be held on Tuesday
in Cairo.
“Normally, I am not comfortable talking about such things because they are
negative by nature. The FA should be the one commenting, but I can say that we
are no longer going ahead with the complaint,” he said.
FA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe confirmed that the complaint
has since been dropped by the club, without elaborating further on the issue.
The refereeing in the match came under heavy criticism even from SuperSport
Television Soccer Africa programme, when analysts led by veteran journalist
Thomas Kwenaite bashed the Burundian whistle men for many controversial calls
against Swallows.
They even alleged that the result of the game was manufactured to favour the
Congolese side after Mbabane Swallows’ seemingly legitimate goal was harshly
disallowed for an offiside.