APR coaches furious with Nsoro’s persistent refereeing calls

APR head coach Ben Moussa and his assistant Jamel Eddine Neffati were embroiled in a touchline row with referee Nsoro Ruzindana after they questioned on different occasions the refereeing calls he made during the team’s goalless draw with Gasogi at the Bugesera Stadium on Saturday, April 15. The pair, who were desperately in need of a goal, cut a frustrating figure as they were not happy with the time-wasting actions of Gasogi’s Kevin Ishimwe who deliberately stopped play when there was no infringement prompting them to protest against the referee’s decisions that, they claim, cost the team the match. Neffati was furious with Nsoro who showed him a yellow card which infuriated him. The Tunisian registered his displeasure by removing his shirt and hitting it on the ground which is against association football rules only to be shown a second yellow card that saw him sent off. In an post-match interview, Neffati said that Nsoro has been taking the rift 'personal' even before APR’s draw with Gasogi claiming that the referee denied him to speak to his coach about possible substitutions. “I was here last year and there was no problem, but this year I don't know why that referee is behaving this way,” he said. “I was sitting and talking to the head coach about the substitutions, he came and told me that I should not be there, that instead I should be where the players were doing the warm ups,” he added. Neffati’s red card means that he will miss APR’s next two league games against Police and AS Kigali through suspension which he said was all that Nsoro had planned. “What he did today [Saturday] was a plan because he wanted me to be suspended for the Police, AS Kigali matches, and other fixtures that will follow,” he said. Asked why he threw his APR jacket away, the Tunisian said, “ Taking off APR's shirt was not disrespect to the team but human anger because of what happened to me.” “I love APR, I see myself as their ambassador wherever I am because, even when I'm outside this country I talk a lot about it and its players, I see myself a part of this club so me throwing the jacket away was nothing against this club,” he added. Club head coach Ben Moussa also questioned Nsoro’s refereeing decisions during APR’s recent matches, claiming that there might be a campaign against APR to win the title. “It's not the first time that this happens, Nsoro always does it against us. He is the one who officiated our match against Rayon Sports and granted a goal that hasn’t crossed the line,” he said. “I’m fed up with the way the referees handle the games, they don't want APR FC to win the league title,” he added. APR’s goalless draw against Gasogi saw them tied at the top of the table with Kiyovu at 53 points though they have superior goal difference.