Africa-Press – Rwanda. Police FC coach Vincent Mashami has said he wasn’t sure Richard Kilongozi’s controversially disallowed goal that could have denied Rayon Sports the victory on Sunday crossed the line.
Kilongozi thought he had equalized 1-1 for Police FC when he lobbed goalkeeper Patient Ndikuriyo only for Youssou Diagne to clear the ball to the relief of his teammates and the fans in general at Kigali Pele Stadium.
The Burundian winger was left disappointed after assistant referee Emmanuel Habumugisha insisted that the ball hadn’t crossed the line.
Mashami refused to comment on the disallowed goal until he watches the video replays but he revealed that players who were closer to the action told him it was a clean goal.
“I don’t know, I have not yet watched the video, but the players who were close say the ball crossed the line,” Mashami told the press.
“I don’t like talking about referees, but there is a way everyone saw the game. The referees are smart enough, they know what they are doing, so I can’t say a lot. But for that goal, if it truly crossed the line, he should have counted it because it is his responsibility, especially the linesman, because he is the one who monitors the goal line.”
“I am saying this but I am not sure yet but if it crossed the line and he didn’t award it to us, then he didn’t handle the situation well,” he added.
Mashami further indicated that poor marking from his players cost the team as Rayon broke the deadlock through Fiston Ishimwe.
“About the goal we conceded, the marking was not very good. It was a free-header, I don’t think we handled it well, it was an easy goal to defend,” he added.
The win saw Rayon Sports returning to the top of the table with 59 points, one point ahead of APR FC. Police are fourth with 40 points.
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