DR Congo head coach Florent Ibenge has registered his disappointment with the manner in which referees handled their friendly match against Kenya on Sunday at Machakos Stadium.
The Leopards were defeated 2-1 by Harambee Stars courtesy of Michael Olunga’s brace but Ibenge feels that centre referee Davis Omweno denied his side open goals.
He cites an incident in the 24th minute when Aboud Omar cleared a goal-bound ball and another one in injury time when Gael Kakuta scored but the goal was disallowed.
“Referees have spoilt the game. We were denied penalties. We were denied goals. Look at when Kenya’s defender headed the ball while he was inside the goal line and you see, we were denied. Look at the last minutes of the match. We scored a clear goal but what happened? We were denied. All in all, we don’t care whether we lost or not; ours is to focus on quality of the game.”
Omweno was being assisted by compatriots Oliver Omondi, Joshua Achilla and Andrew Juma as 1St Assistant referee, 2nd Assistant referee and Reserve referee respectively.
