Machokha coach Tšepo Mokhele says match officials are destroying football in Lesotho.
A fuming Mokhele said poor officiating cost his side in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to title-chasing Matlama after a second half penalty secured the result at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena.
The final score had weighty implications on the Vodacom Premier League as it allowed Matlama to remain three points behind Lioli with a game in hand, while on the other hand, the defeat means Machokha are still in danger of being relegated.
Mokhele said Matlama did not deserve to win and were gifted the three points by the referees. Machokha had two loud penalty appeals turned down in the first half before ‘Tse Putsoa’ won the game from the spot in the second stanza.
Mokhele said the defeat leaves his side in a precarious position as they battle to survive in the top-flight with five games to go.
Machokha are in 12th place with 22 points, five points above the relegation zone, and gaining a point against ‘Tse Putsoa’ would have given them a safer cushion in their battle to survive.
Mokhele said the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) must do something about the officiating in the country because, if things continue as they are, it will destroy football.
“Officials are not only degrading our football, but they are also degrading our players,” Mokhele fumed. “People are paying to come here and watch a very beautiful game yet referees come and make us lose because we cannot fight them, which is very sad,” he added.
Mokhele insisted the result could have gone the other way if Machokha’s “clear” penalty appeals had been awarded.
“We could have won the game but the referees rejected our two clear penalties and I don’t know what Matlama’s penalty was given for, because that was not a penalty,” he said.
Mokhele said a similar thing happened when the sides’ met in the first round when Matlama scraped a 2-1 win.
“We scored first (in the first round match) before Matlama equalized. After Matlama scored the second goal, the game was over and that did not sit well with me,” he said.
Mokhele said what pains him most is that Machokha have a few matches to play in the Vodacom Premiership season and referees are gambling with their future as they did on Sunday.
Mokhele said the favouritism from referees does no favours for Lesotho’s big teams when they enter continental competitions.
“This is why you see people win the league in the country because they are used to being put on top of other people, but when they find fair refereeing (in CAF competitions) and they have to toughen up at the international level, we are always out. It is because of things like this,” he said.
“Let us compete,” Mokhele continued.
“Respect the crowd, the players, (LEFA) presidency and the people who are pouring money into football. Money is being spent each and every day only for our referees to do something like this. We did not deserve to lose that game,” Machokha coach insisted.
Matlama coach Halemakale Mahlaha declined to comment on the awarding of his side’s winning penalty but said his side’s struggles on the day showed that his players were not playing according to the game-plan.
“Our performance might be because of the internal things that happened a day before the game. Maybe the players were mentally distracted by the (9-1 win over) Naughty Boys (in the previous week),” Mahlaha said.
“Winning by that huge margin might have distracted the players but what was important was that we collected three points (against Machokha)”.
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