SIMBA have written to the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) seeking its intervention to reinstate the Kenyan referees who were earlier picked by CAF to officiate TP Mazembe vs Simba match in Lubumbashi.
In a letter signed by the club’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Crescentius Magori, Simba tabled their letter yesterday, asking TFF to communicate with the continental football governing body(CAF) on the matter so that referees Peter Waweru and Gilbert Cheruiyot, who were omitted by CAF resume their role as it was scheduled.
CAF has opted to replace Kenyan officials, with Zambian referees for the second leg of the Champions League clash pitting TP Mazembe and Simba due to what it claimed technical reasons.
Bamlak Tessama and Samuel Temesgin of Ethiopia were chosen alongside the two Kenyan officials to oversee the game but CAF has replaced the officials with a team of Zambian and Eritrean referees.
Janny Sikazwe, Romeo Kasengele, Audrick Nkole from Zambia and Berhe Tesfagiogis from Eritrea will now officiate the tie.
The match is hanging on the balance after a 0-0 draw at the Dar-es-Salaam National Stadium on Saturday 6th April with the second leg set to take place on Saturday 13th April at the Frederic Kibassa Maliba Stadium.
“Earlier this morning, we have received a letter from CAF informing us of the change of referees ‘due to technical reasons’ for the return leg of our quarter-finals match TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi.
This is unprecedented for CAF to change referees after the first leg match has been played for unknown ‘ technical reasons’,” reads part of the letter.
It further said: “We humbly request your esteemed office to timely intervene in this matter to ensure that the referees earlier appointed are reinstated to ensure a fair game.
This abrupt change calls for a lot of speculation considering that the newly appointed referees are predominantly from the neighbouring country (Zambia), bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is a driving distance to Lubumbashi.
This is a major concern for us.” Following the first leg results (0-0) at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, Simba have an upper hand of sailing into the competition’s last four because they do not have anything to lose and will play the game without pressure.
Immediately after the match, the team’s Head Coach Patrick Aussems said they will be more efficient on the target to ensure that they score an away goal which matters most at this stage of the competition.
“As you saw, we created many chances today (Saturday) but could not turn them into goals. We have another opportunity to prove that we are among the best club in the continent,” Aussems said.
Simba is the first club in the country to reach this far in CAF CL something which has made the nation proud.
