Gor now staring at CAF ban after scuffle in Lusaka
Gor Mahia could find themselves in trouble with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after allegedly badgering South African referee Lebalong Mohete during the controversial CAF Confederation Cup play-off elimination by Napsa Stars of Zambia in Lusaka on Sunday.
CAF will assess the closed circuit cameras and peruse the referee’s match reports at National Heroes Stadium with a view of taking appropriate disciplinary action on the Kenyan champions for descending on the referee over alleged bias.
During the fateful match, Gor surrendered a 2-1 lead at half time to draw 2-2 with Napsa, thanks to a dying minutes’ penalty conversion by the home team’s striker Emmanuel Mayuka and which was shrouded in controversy.
As the match ended, a section of agitated Gor players are said to have confronted Mohete, pushing and shoving him over the decision. Mohete would then vow to post match reports detailing the confrontation which caught the attention of Africa’s football governing body as sanctions beckon for the Kenyan emissaries.
The bone of contention was Mohete extending the ex- tra time by three minutes besides what Gor players felt was awarding Napsa a dubious penalty.
The penalty was awarded after Gor fullback Geoffrey Ochieng’ appeared to have upended a goal-bound Jimmy Mukeya which prompted Mohete to point to the spot as Mayuka cooly slotted in the penalty for Napsa to advance on a 3-2 aggregate, having won the first leg match 1-0 in Nairobi.
The decision was hotly disputed by Gor, whose players pushed the referee around before the penalty was taken even as Mohete pin-pointed individual players who attacked him.
Gor’s Portuguese coach Carlos Vaz Pinto has also taken issue with what he termed ‘diabolical’ officiating.
