SPORTS: Enyimba petitions CAF over alleged biased officiating

Former African champions, Enyimba of Aba, have petitioned African football governing body, CAF, over what they described as “terrible officiating,” which they alleged caused their 0-2 loss to Egyptian club, Smouha, in their second leg, first round CAF Champions League game in Alexandria on Sunday.

Chairman of Enyimba, Felix Anyansi-Agwu does not expect much joy at the end but says it’s important to “let the world know what happened in Egypt.”

“My brother, I am more than shocked. In all my years as an administrator in African football, I have never seen anything this bad, especially in the closing moments of the game.

“We did not lose to Smouha. We lost to the referees that Smouha used in helping them beat us. It was unbelievable.

“I know we have lost but we have to make a formal complaint to the governing body,” Anyansi-Agwu told supersport.com.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), through General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, also corroborated Anyansi-Agwu’s claim.

“The officiating was highly questionable. No wonder the Smouha FC officials refused to allow any recording of the game. This is bad for African football,” Sanusi, who was in Alexandria for the game was quoted as saying on the official NFF website, www.thenff.com.

Enyimba won the first leg of the first round tie, 1-0 against Smouha in Aba, but the 0-2 defeat in Alexandria in the return fixture ultimately knocked them out on a 2-1 aggregate.