Kiyovu Sports head coach Petros Koukouras launched a stinging attack on Rwandan referees describing them as very poor after his side's 1-0 win over Gorilla at Kigali Pele Stadium on Monday, October 2. Coaches and club administrators taking a swipe at referees is not something new all over the world and it is as old as the game itself. In Rwanda, club owner Kakooza Nkuriza Charles popularly known as KNC once threatened to withdraw from the league due to what he termed as bad officiating against his team. ALSO READ: APR coaches furious with Nsoro's persistent refereeing The 2022/23 season saw APR coaches Ben Moussa and Jamel Eddine Neffati nearly having a brawl with referee Nsoro Ruzindana in their drawn game with Gasogi. They believed the referee had an agenda against their team. This 2023/24 season is very young as it is in its fifth week but already there is a complaint about refereeing. In whichever way one sees it, Koukouras's assertions could be out of frustration because of his inability to get the team to the level he wants. All the same, it should not be totally swept under the carpet. ALSO READ: Gasogi threatens to withdraw from Rwanda Premier League Rwanda has produced one of the best referees on the African continent currently – Salima Mukansanga – who has gone as far as the World Cup and Koukoura's utterances on Rwanda referees can be termed as a hasty generalization. The Greek tactician was sent off by referee Samuel Uwikunda in Kiyovu's 1-0 win over Gorilla after verbally assaulting him when the away side was awarded a penalty which Johnson Adeaga eventually missed. After, the game, Koukouras attacked Rwandan referees by saying that they are the worst he had seen in his five years as a coach in Africa. It's in this country where I have seen proud referees who, in addition are of lower levels compared to other African countries. I have been in Africa since 2018 but here, they think they are at a good level, yet that is not the reality, Koukouras told reporters after his team's narrow win on Monday. Football in Africa is not like in Europe and sometimes we must give referees the benefit of the doubt. There is no VAR, they don't have the opportunity to have a second look at incidents and they have to always take decisions in a split second. With all this, they are humans and sometimes may get it wrong and other times get it right. Yes, some may have a personal agenda – which is undeniable – but the main issue is that they use their discretion in making decisions. For Gorilla FC Communications manager Sengabo Jean Bosco, it is too early to judge referees. He believes as the season goes on, there will be more to see if the referees are doing their job well or not. Not too much has changed from the last year, it’s not too bad and it’s very early to judge referees, Bosco told Times Sport. We all want referees to be at a high level, they are obviously going through a difficult time. We want them to be calm and make good decisions, they have to improve management skills, interpersonal skills, presentational skills, and cognitive skills. Bosco stressed that from what he has seen this season, after five games, the referees are doing their work diligently. I think from what I have seen at the start of the season; they are doing well. Certainly, the performance of referees will go a long way to help the clubs either in a positive or negative way. If officiating is good, there will always be worthy champions who will go and raise the flag of the nation high. There are many games left to play and time will tell if the referees are up to the task or not.
