After the final whistle in the match pitting AFC Leopards and Western Stima, the center referee Simeon Ongaga had to be escorted under security out of the field of play after agitated AFC Leopards players confronted him, together with their coach who seemingly had gone to get his players away, ending it with a fist bump with the assistant referees.Once again, Patrick Aussems decried poor officiating in that game saying that the referee made some wrong calls including a crucial one that saw Western Stima score their third goal, urging the Federation to intervene for the good of the game in the country.Western Stima were awarded a freekick that was scored by Geofrey Ojunga in the dying minutes of the game after Michael Karamor went down easily, prompting the former Simba SC boss to term it a freekick from the moon.”To be honest I don’t want to complain all the time but I think the federation absolutely needs to do something with these guys (referees). They got a freekick coming from the moon, the referee whistled because this guy (Karamor) is sliding and they got the goal,” Aussems saidFootball is cruel … Today AFC Leopards played an attractive football but beaten on penalties …I would like to thank my players , my staff for their commitment in recent weeks under extremely difficult circumstances . Can’t wait to see fans in the stands ! Future is bright ! pic.twitter.com/fGkTcWW5cu— Patrick Aussems (@PatrickAussems) July 4, 2021 Despite accepting the defeat and congratulating Abdalla Juma’s side, the Belgian continued to state that there is a need to talk about officiating in Kenya, adding that it is becoming something terrible for football in the country.”The biggest problem, I don’t want to complain, I don’t want to cry, but we must talk about officiating because it is something terrible for football in Kenya. I accept the defeat and congratulate Western Stima. Every weekend is terrible. You saw what happened. To be honest, I prefer not to talk because I am a professional coach, we have professional players, unfortunately, we do not have professional referees here,” Aussems continued.This was not the first time that the tactician was on record complaining about poor officiating in the top tier, neither was he the first coach to highlight that aspect of the game.Recently, he blasted officiating in the clash against Tusker FC and even went ahead to share pictorial evidence to show that the goals that the Brewers scored were both offside and should not have stood.12 players unavailable , another seriously injured today , a lot of missed chances and obvious offsides on the 2 goals conceded… that’s a lot , isn’t it ?? But we produce modern and attractive football so let’s keep going but work again and again on our offensive efficiency … pic.twitter.com/UocXQB98T5— Patrick Aussems (@PatrickAussems) July 16, 2021 Aussems also pointed out the game against Kariobangi Sharks where Sharks were awarded a dubious penalty according to the Belgian, and the FKF Cup final Mashemeji Cup where he claimed that Ingwe were denied a clear penalty.
