adminPetros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
FOUR years might have passed, but scars inflicted by the horror of Lubumbashi continues to haunt South Africa coach Roger de Sa who has issued a chilling warning to CAPS United ahead of their Champions League showdown against TP Mazembe tomorrow.
De Sa was Orlando Pirates coach when the Buccaneers faced Mazembe in Lubumbashi for a Champions League clash, but the diabolical match officiating he experienced from Seychelles referee Bernard Camille still haunts him.
Camille, as he has often done, albeit in controversial circumstances, has been handed the task of handling CAPS United’s decisive Champions League first round, second leg tie against Mazembe at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.
De Sa might have left Pirates, but the bitter memories of the horror show on May 5, 2013 in Lubumbashi still haunt him.
“I am glad you are asking me about that guy because I still wish one day we get to meet on the streets as men so that we sort out all the issues that I have with him from that match,” De Sa said.
“Point number one, he was arrogant, untouchable and just unreachable for any kind of conversation before and during the game. He just didn’t want to hear a thing from us.
“While we were warming-up we asked for the line-up of the opposition team which we still didn’t have up to that point and when we approached the referee along with the match commissioner they told us in typical French mentality ‘no English, no speak English’.
“Yet, funny enough after the game, he then spoke in fluent English threatening us that he will write about bad conduct from us in his report that he will send to CAF which will lead to us being banned.
“I mean all of a sudden this was now a guy able to hear, understand everything that we said to him in English and respond yet just two hours earlier he was telling us that he doesn’t understand English.
“So from the moment the game started that referee never looked at us in the eye because he was so totally biased it was obvious from the word go. The Mazembe fans knew it right away that they had the referee on their side and all decisions would swing in their favour.
“What made the whole thing obvious was the fact that the Mazembe owner went into the referee’s change room at half-time. Doesn’t this just make it all obvious that there was something cooking?’’
De Sa said despite being lucky to be at home in this decisive game, CAPS United still needed to be wary of some trickery from the referee.
“I mean in a normal football match a referee must not be the centre of attraction. He must just go unnoticed for handling the game well. CAPS United must just be grateful that they have gotten this referee for a second leg being played in Harare instead of Lubumbashi.
“I know for a fact that he speaks fluent English so he must not come with his tricks of saying he doesn’t speak English.’’
De Sa also recalled that during the hostile environment in a match in which his captain Lucky Lekgwathi was sent off in the first half, the travelling media from South Africa were barred from using their cameras to capture the events.
“As a way of protecting themselves, the Mazembe people took away the cameras and phones from all the media guys that had travelled with us because they knew what they were up to and didn’t want any evidence being put out there.
“Even the Mazembe fans could see that he was so biased they went as far as giving us a standing ovation as they saluted us from coming out alive against all odds. The fans took it upon themselves to salute us for having been able to stand against the kind of officiating that they have seen most teams suffocate under in Lubumbashi.
“That was unbelievable officiating, the worst ever kind of officiating that I have ever seen by a referee. I know that referees are human and can make a call against you here and there, but that was disgusting.
“If that referee really had a conscience he would have long stopped refereeing. I am surprised that he is still getting appointed up to this day because he has no morals at all. I actually wonder how he sleeps at night after officiating a game in that way,’’ De Sa said.
De Sa also suggested that cash-rich Mazembe were doing themselves a huge disservice by continuing to be associated with the controversy that Camille brings.
“Mazembe is a good team with all resources that a professional team in Africa would want and they don’t need help from referees to win games. They can afford any players that they want on the continent and can win without assistance from referees so why should they need these shady characters who are crooks and unprincipled.
“Those referees hide behind the badge and are never there to reason with you. If you question any of their actions all they ever do is back their actions by issuing cards. I am really shocked that he is still in the game.
“I still wish I get to know why he sent off our captain Lucky Lekgwathi in the first half that day. I mean this all proves that he just didn’t want to even listen to our captain of all people on the field. I hope the new guys that have come in get to fix this refereeing issue,’’ said De Sa.
Online Reporter