Fufa left with egg on face after referee ruins final

The decision taken by Fufa to have Saturday’s Uganda Cup final between SC Villa and KCC replayed despite the latter’s fans invading the pitch in protest of referee Robert Donney’s decision making speaks volumes.
“It is also true that there has been an observation and a general feeling, which we also feel that there was inconsistency in the performance of the referee,” Fufa president Moses Magogo said on Saturday evening.
This was during a hastily convened press conference after the game in Ntungamo in which Fufa finally seemed to agree that Donney was a bad choice for the game.
They had only hours earlier controversially appointed Donney, who has faced intense criticism this season following below par performances with the whistle.
“We raised a complaint before the game and also during the pre-match meeting about the said referee and we were assured that he would not be in charge,” explained KCC club chairman Julius Kabugo after the game.
“We were not sure about who was going to officiate the game even after the pre-match meeting,” Villa manager Sulait Makumbi said of Donney in added reference to the referee’s appointment that had been kept a secret till kick-off.
Donney had overseen an opening half in which Villa should have gone ahead had it not been for forward Erisa Ssekisambu fluffing a couple of decent opportunities.
The game had by then already had its first flash point with play suspended for six minutes after one of his assistants was pelted with objects.
Worse was to follow with an hour gone; KCC captain Saka Mpiima seemed to have timed his tackle to perfection as his stopped Chrisestom Ntambi’s run into the 18 yard area.
The defender like the majority of those around the ground was instead astonished to see Donney point to the spot for a penalty despite being yards from the incident. His assistant Musa Balikowa had raised his flag for an offside decision while KCC players remonstrated with the centre referee, all to no avail.
The KCC captain, like SC Victoria coach Morley Byekwaso did during their April 1-0 quarter-final Cup defeat also against Villa with Donney in charge, stormed off the pitch.

Erisa Sekisambu then scored the resultant penalty, the fourth time this season he was netting in games that are later aborted.
With KCC anger still boiling, Hakim Senkumba was then rightly sent off minutes later for a stamp on Villa substitute Abdul-Karim Kasule before their (KCC) fans invaded the pitch in protest.
“The game that did not end today, our analysis has been, having insufficient security to make sure that the game can be completed irrespective of what happens on the pitch,” Magogo stated at the press conference.
Many will disagree.