Poor referees to blame for Tanzania’s U-20 AFCON exit - Mkwasa

Photo Credit - Tanzania Football Federation.

Tanzania U20 national team head coach Charles Mkwasa has blamed poor officiating for the team’s early exit from the TotalEnergies CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

The Ngorongoro Heroes’ tournament ended abruptly in Ismailia on Tuesday. Zambia snatched a dramatic 1-0 Group A victory, thanks to a stoppage-time penalty converted by Joseph Sabobo.

The game looked destined for a draw after both sides fought in an intense and physical contest with few clear-cut chances, but Zambia kept pressing. The decisive moment arrived in the added time after VAR awarded a penalty when Emmanuel Mutale was fouled in the box.

Sabobo stepped up and coolly slotted the spot kick into the bottom left corner, securing all three points for the Young Chipolopolo. The outcome did not impress Mkwasa, who blamed it on poor officiating, saying it had played a huge role in the team’s early exit from the tournament with a game to spare.

“We prepare a team using a lot of resources [...] the team travels from very far when coming for a tournament, and when you arrive here, officials turn against you. They go against your team,” said Mkwasa.

“We don’t know why the officials are against us, we had chances to score, but sometimes we get demoralised by poor officiating. We really don’t know what the reason for such officiating could be. We are being targeted by referees. There has been poor officiating in all of the matches we have played.

“We have tried our best, we have created chances, we have worked on our weak areas since we arrived here, but I suspect that my players lack the confidence to go and score goals. It is the biggest problem we have, and lacking concentration when in a position to score, it has really affected us.”

The defeat left Tanzania rooted at the bottom of the group with zero points from three matches. They will play their final game against hosts Egypt at Suez Canal Stadium on Friday.