Monrovia- Following Liberia under 20 national team’s elimination from the West African Football Union zone A U-20 tournament, the head of the Liberia U-20, Emmanuel Kaykay, has frowned at officiating in the tournament.
By: Christopher C Walker [email protected]
Liberia, serving as hosts, failed to make it to the semi-final as a result of a win, draw and a defeat, which many football lovers were unhappy with.
Coach Kaykay boys in their opening match secured a 1-0 victory over Guinea Bissau and suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sierra Leone, while on Saturday, Liberia came from a goal down to force a 1-1 draw with Guinea In a game Liberia had a goal disallowed when Emmanuel Sieh hit in an overhead volley.
Facing the media after the match, Coach Kaykay accused the West African football Union of favoring the French speaking countries.
In his accusation, Kaykay said “WAF is making the tournament a Francophone tournament. “My major problem was with the match officials. Their officiating was very poor. This tournament should be one for West Africa, but instead they turned it into a Francophone tournament. We scored a clear goal early minute against Guinea, but it was cancelled for no justifiable reason. Why will you use a French referee to officiate our game when we have Portuguese and English referees? I think it was a calculated plan to rob us of what we deserve,” Kaykay said.
The Liberian coach said despite his team not making it to the last four, his team played well in the tournament but because of poor officiating they didn’t get the needed results.
“The team performance was great. We played extremely well. Out of three games, we won one, drew one and lost one. I think that was amazing.
“Overall, we played well but were victimized due to poor officiating from the match officials.” He added.
Meanwhile, the Liberia Football Association has disassociated Itself from Coach Emmanuel Kakay’s statement.
In a release issued on Sunday, Liberia Football Association (LFA) clarified that the views expressed by Coach Emmanuel Kakay during his post-match press conference on Saturday, do not align with the values and principles upheld by the Liberia Football Association.
“As an association, we are committed to promoting a culture of respect and integrity within the sport of football. We firmly oppose any remarks or sentiments that contradict this commitment. We recognize the potential impact of these comments and want to ensure our partners, the public and our stakeholders that they do not reflect the beliefs or stances of the Liberia Football Association.
“We remain steadfast in our mission to foster a positive and respectful environment for all participants in football, and we appreciate the support from our partners, WAFU, CAF, and FIFA,” a release signed by Emmet Crayton General Secretary Liberia Football Association said.