Sofapaka head coach Ezekiel Akwana has lambasted the officiating witnessed in their Kenya Premier League match against Gor Mahia on Wednesday 22 January, saying that it was evident the game referees “wanted us to lose.”Akwana, who stepped in to the managerial role after the exit of veteran Robert Matano two weeks ago, was left aggrieved following his team’s 2-0 loss to the league defending champions, and felt that some calls made in the round 17 fixture took the life out of his players.Gor down Sofapaka for first win of the yearAkwana was specifically frustrated by referee Isaac Hamisi’s decision to award Gor Mahia their second goal, which came after Shariff Musa’s goal-bound shot in the 70th minute cannoned off the crossbar before seemingly bouncing over the line, and then out to the hands of substitute keeper Evans Ouma.As per Akwana, the signal to give the goal was made by assistant referee Adam Juma, despite it “not being his call.”And while from a naked eye the ball seemed to have bounced inside the goal, replays from Azam TV showed that part of the ball had not entirely crossed the line.FIFA goal line rules state: “A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar, provided that no offence has been committed by the team scoring the goal.”On the incident, Akwana told Azam TV: “We played well but if you look keenly, the referee had a fixed mind. He gave them a lot of advantages in midfield, and the second goal was given by the linesman despite it not being his call.“We prepared well, but the officiating made Gor Mahia win today.”Mohammed Bajaber responds to Kenya Police transfer rumorsSofapaka will also count themselves lucky after Hamisi failed to dismiss keeper Ouma after he deliberately handled the ball out of the box as the last man.The loss was Sofapaka’s fifth of the season, and saw them close out the first half of the season sixth, and on 24 points.##NAJAVA_MECA_8650513##
