Nov 19, 2018 9:59 AM
The head of the officiating team of yesterday’s AFCON 2019 Qualifiers between South Africa and Nigeria Bakary Papa Gassama has apologised to the Nigerian team after wrongly denying them two goals due to wrong offside calls. Ahmed Musa put through Kelechi Iheanacho who tapped home believing he has given Nigeria the lead but Musa who supplied the pass was judged by the assistant referee as been in an offside position, something which turned out to be wrong after video replays.
In the second half with less than five minutes to go, Musa was once again at the receiving end of another poor referee decision as he was once again flagged offside incorrectly after slotting home what could have given Nigeria all three points. The game ended 1-1 with Nigeria sealing her passage to next year Africa Cup of Nations but officials of the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) still expressed their unhappiness to Gassama over the poor decision which cost Nigeria a win.
Gassama admitted the error and even went a step further by sending his apologies to Musa over the incident although he admitted that such errors are sometimes unavoidable particularly due to the non-availability of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Ahmed Musa had questioned the offside call that denied Nigeria a winner in Saturday’s African Cup of Nations qualifiers against South Africa at the FNB Stadium. In the 83rd minute of the clash and with the score tied at 1-1, Alex Iwobi threaded an incisive pass through for Musa, who also had substitute Isaac Success chasing it. The Al Nassr forward opted to have a go instead and slotted past Itumeleng Khune to put the Super Eagles ahead, but referee Bakary Gassama ruled it out for an offside
Nice one
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