Niger Tornadoes blasts Uwua over officiating

…you are a liar, chairman tells coach

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna.

The Chairman of the Niger Tornadoes Football Club of Minna Alhaji Dattijo Aliyu has differed with the club’s technical adviser Chief Godwin Uwua over officiating of football matches in the Nigerian National League especially in the game against Plateau United of Jos adding that since the league started the officials have been excellent.

Dattijo who told Sports Journalists at Minna yesterday that Coach Uwua was wrong in criticizing the referee’s decision that led to the team defeat said the coach was a liar to criticised referees officiating.

According to him “poor officiating was not responsible as claimed by the team’s technical adviser. We have been getting the best on officiating in our away matches; it’s just that sometimes certain things happen that you cannot help.

“Sometimes, we must understand that these referees are humans. I can’t say Godwin Uwua is wrong or right, it depends on how you look at it naturally, he is the one in the helm of affairs so he would feel the referee was wrong or somebody was not right especially when you are playing better than your opponent. In all, I believe that the officiating was excellent”.

The ex-Tornadoes footballer added that “mistakes are inevitably made. We however had chances to win the game against Plateau United of Jos, that match is one of the best matches I have watched both home and away since the league started. As God destined that we are going to loss that match, we ended losing it and we will not protest it, I saw the game and I am impressed with the officiating.

He however disclosed that the managerial and technical teams have cordial relationship saying that “I am against management’s undue interference on the technical team because if I employ a coach, I give him free hands to operate so that I can have the moral right to challenge him, and if he does not do well I can fire him”.