Forest Rangers’ head coach, Mwenya Chipepo, has slammed the match officials in charge of his team’s Week 5 MTN Super League match against FC MUZA at Dola Hill Stadium in Ndola.
Maimba Katiti of Kafue officiated the match, with Thomas Kaela of Chambishi and Emmanuel Mpomwa of Lusaka serving as first and second assistant referees, respectively, and Henry Zulu of Lusaka as fourth official.
Fole Malembe rallied from behind twice to earn a point in a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon.
The Elegant Dynamite took the lead in the 28th minute through Rickson Ngambi, but Tobias Chungu equalized for Forest Rangers in the 34th minute, bringing the scores level at halftime.
MUZA reclaimed the lead in the 62nd minute when Andrew Phiri converted a penalty kick, before Quadri Kola scored late to ensure the two sides shared a point at the end of 90 minutes.
‘I am not happy’ – Chipepo
Chipepo reacted to the result by claiming that the referee and team were not up to the task of officiating the match, alleging that they made strange calls that puzzled everyone, including the spectators.
“I’m not happy. I can tell you we are not happy; not everyone is happy; the supporters, officials, everyone who was watching the game was very angry with the type of officiating,” Chipepo said. “I’ve never seen a game like that, but it’s part of the game. What we need to do is just to make sure that we don’t have to be demoralised, but we just have to make sure that we start training next week on a good note so that we perform well in the next coming game.”
The gaffer said the club was unlikely to formally complain about the officiating as he now shifts his attention to the next match against Kabwe Warriors.
“There’s nothing we can do; even if we blame the referee, nothing is going to happen; instead, they will blame us for complaining. Our team is playing well at the moment; it’s only that the referee destroyed the game, so going to Kabwe Warriors we should go and pick three points because we have drawn about 3 or 4, which is bad,” he concluded.
