Gor Mahia assistant coach Sammy 'Pamzo' Omollo yesterday added his voice to the blooming concern about poor officiating in the top-flight competition.
Speaking days after the record Kenyan champions lost their league encounter against Kakamega Homeboyz through a contentious penalty, Omollo said there was a trend whereby Homeboyz were being awarded dubious penalties in their home matches at Bukhungu Stadium.
“It happened against Mathare United, Posta Rangers, Bandari and it has now occurred against Gor Mahia. Doesn't it strike you as odd that all those penalties were awarded during their home matches at Bukhungu?” asked an exasperated Omollo.
On Sunday, Gor Mahia fans reportedly descended on centre referee George Mwai on his way to the dressing room during the halftime break, after he purportedly made a dubious call that gifted Kakamega Homeboyz a contentious penalty in a league encounter.
So serious was the situation that Mwai did not return to the game in the second half and had to be replaced by the fourth official Wilson Otieno.
Gor center-back, Joshua Onyango, who caused the infringement has maintained his innocence, explaining that the challenge was made inches outside the box and the centre referee George Mwai was meters off the incident.
Onyango was adjudged to have sent Yema Mwana tumbling in the area, consequently leading to the penalty that leveled the scoreline.
Gor had hoped to reclaim the top spot on the log in their match against Posta Rangers this afternoon, but the fixture was called off by the FKF caretaker committee on Tuesday.
“We shall be having our next league match against Nairobi City Stars at Moi Stadium, Kasarani on January 3, and hopefully, we will observe a marked improvement in the handling of the match,” said Omollo.
Meanwhile, Omollo has played down the rising concerns revolving around the side's blunt striking force.
“I don't think there is any need to run into a panic. It's true we have fired blanks in our recent matches but the coaches are doing all they can to rectify the situation as soon as possible,” he said.
Omollo added that besides midfielder John Ochieng and defender Philemon Otieno, there are no other injury concerns.
“Both Ochieng and Otieno incurred serious injuries to the ankle but they are well on the path to recovery,” he said.
