By Kehinde Okeowo
The loss of the second leg of the double-header between Nigeria and Central African Republic on Sunday, ultimately dealt a big bow to the aspiration of the less fancied Central African side
Having shocked the star studded Super Eagles at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, the team which was bottom of the group climbed to the 3rd position, level of on points with 2nd placed Cape Verde and just 2 points shy of Nigeria.
Coach of Les Fauves of Central African Republic( CAR), Raoul Savoy, has however blamed the Rwandan referee, Loius Hakizimana for the 2-0 loss his side suffered against the Super Eagles at the Japoma Stadium in Cameroon.
According to him, the referee allowed an offside goal scored by Leon Balogun and another goal scored by Victor Osimhen after an infringement on his goal keeper.
He went further to state that his team was practically playing against 12 men, as the centre referee practically made all calls in favour of the away side.
“Nigeria played with 12 men because the referee helped them to win. The first goal was from an offside position and my goalkeeper was fouled for the second goal,”
“We did not concede against Nigeria over the two legs, they scored with the help of the referee.” He said
Meanwhile Nigerian fans have equally questioned the referee’s decision to overlook a foul against Nigeria striker Osimhen in the host penalty box, pundits have however advocated the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, which will reduce allegations of cheating at the World cup qualifiers.
