Super Eagles captain, Vincent Enyeama leads the protests over
Egyptian referee, Ghead Grisha decsion to award a penalty to Zambia
The was jubilation in Super Eagles
camp yesterday afternoon as news filtered in that the Egyptian referee who
awarded the dubious penalty against Nigeria to allow Zambia equalize
their second game of Group C may have been sent home by CAF.
Grisha Ghead awarded the spot kick
against Onazi Ogenyi for a supposed foul on Emmanuel Mayuka.
However, television replays of the
tackle on the stadium scoreboard showed clearly that the offence was clearly
outside the box, yet the referee went ahead to award a penalty.
CAF source hinted Sunday night that
the leadership of the football body was unhappy with the decision following
Nigeria’s protest.
“He was sent home because of his
mishandling of the match. Isa Hayatou, CAF President, admitted that the penalty
call by the referee was wrong.
"If there was a foul, it was
definitely outside the 18-yard-box, and not a penalty. Referees are not allowed
to re-write the rule of the game," Hayatou was quoted to have told the
Nigerian delegation.
A top NFF official however insisted
Sunday night that the damage has been done and the sending away of the referee
means little as it will not change the result of the match.
“It would have been meaningful if the
decision have impact on the result but as we know it in football, the result
stands, like Maradona’s wicked ‘Hand of God’ goal,” stressed the official
Source: Thisday
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