Africa-Press – Liberia. The Liberia Football Association (LFA) has taken decisive action by expelling Class-A referee Josephus Torjilar from all LFA-organized activities. This move comes in response to Torjilar’s poor officiating during the recent match between Nimba and Grand Gedeh in the quarterfinals of the National County Meet. The Referee Committee’s report highlighted Torjilar’s actions as detrimental to the game’s integrity, bringing both refereeing and the match itself into disrepute. Torjilar’s controversial decisions, including denying Grand Gedeh what appeared to be a clear goal, have stirred significant controversy and led to his expulsion from LFA activities, effective immediately.
As a result of the referee’s decision, Grand Gedeh supporters were seen kicking and breaking the newly placed over $30,000 dugout seats, for which Liberia was fined by CAF during the Weah-led administration. They also had scuffles with security and were throwing cans and bottles onto the pitch. However, the protesting Grand Gedeh supporters were calmed by the police, although some of the officers were injured on the pitch.
The violence emerged after the final whistle, but it was not the defining moment of bitterness for the Grand Gedeh supporters, who felt that they should have won the match within the 120 minutes of the game but were denied by the controversial referee Torjilar’s decision. Many Liberians, including people from Nimba County, have said the referee’s decision was wrong.
In a Facebook post, LFA president and current representative of Nimba County, Musa H. Bility, said, “Even though I’m from Nimba County, I believe Grand Gedeh was robbed. The truth is hard and sometimes painful. Today, the referee robbed our people of good football. A goal for Grand Gedeh wouldn’t have meant they would have won, but this is just wrong. This referee must be punished. We are Nimba, and we have overcome greater challenges before. We didn’t need this help from him. While it didn’t mean victory for them, the goal they scored was perfect. Football doesn’t deserve this. The truth is the truth, even if it’s against you. This was against us. The victory is undeserved.”
Speaking on Intel Sports, Deputy Sports Minister G. Andy Quamie said the officiating by Torjilar was out of order and believes that Grand Gedeh was robbed of their win or a clear goal. He said after watching the goal several times, he believes that the goal was valid but doesn’t know why it was disallowed by the referee. According to him, the officiating in this year’s county meet is below standard, and he will speak with the Liberia Football Referee Association to caution their referees to be at their best in matches. Since the start of the 2024 National County Sports Meet, there has been a lot of poor officiating from the preliminaries to the quarterfinals.
It can be recalled that in August 2019, Torjilar was banned by the LFA for accepting a bribe. The Liberia Football Association banned Josephus Torjilar for two years for accepting a bribe. The ban, according to the Football house at the time, followed an investigation conducted by the LFA’s grievance and disciplinary committee. During the investigation, Torjilar admitted he received $100 after a second-tier relegation play-off match that saw Pags beat Srimex FC 2-0.
Regarding the match supporters turning brutal after the match, it was a set piece, and contacts were expected to be made. That’s not a grave site! The first contact was made on the Nimba player by his own teammate who made contact with his arm, and then the opponent made a hip contact while targeting the ball. After he was pushed by his own teammate, his opponent had contact which didn’t warrant a foul. It was a goal, and the referee blundered, Josephus blundered! It’s normal in football for teams to benefit from referees’ mistakes [globally], but what happened in the Nimba and Grand Gedeh game was totally unacceptable.
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