Ugandan Professional footballer, Emmanuel Okwi has come out to defend his Tanzanian club Simba, following allegations that the referee favored them in their 2-1 win against Kagera Sugar in the Vodacom Premier League on Monday.
Kagera Sugar’s assistant coach Mrange Kabange accused referee Erick Onoka from Arusha of favouring the Reds after suffering loss, adding that the result of the match must have been “pre-planned.”
“The referee clearly proved his bias towards Simba and this leads us to believe that the outcome of the game had been pre-planned,” he told Tanzania’s Daily News after the match played at the Kambarage Stadium.
However, Emmanuel Okwi replied coach Kabange, ruling out the possibility of match fixing. The forward who made a significant contribution to the success, stated that they were well prepared for the victory.
“We have a record of beating bigger and better teams,” boasted the striker. “Kagera Sugar should be the least of our problems… let’s just say it was a piece of cake, almost a walkover.”
Okwi won Simba a penalty when his goal-bound shot was deliberately ‘saved’ by the hand of a Kagera Sugar defender. Youngster Ibrahim Aji converted from the spot as the side took an absolute 2-1 lead up to the end of the match.
Simba, who maintained their third place in the VPL standing on 35 points, had earlier opened their scoring chapter through Ramadhan Singano after 46 minutes to take the lead.
