Kiminini MP Maurice Kakai Bisau is on the spot after goons believed to be his bodyguards attacked centre referee Irene Onyango following the Bungoma Superstars’s second goal at Ndura Stadium in Kitale.
Christopher Situma had put the visitors infront with a brilliant penalty in the 52nd minute after substitute Mathew ‘Arocho’ Andera was brought down in the box.
Samwel Waswa had taken advantage of a quick restart by Allan Sireka from a dead ball near the centre as that had caught the Kiminini Combined FC players off guard.
The forward drove past the unprepared home team, beating the oncoming goalkeeper before “WhatsApping” the ball into the empty net to extend the lead to 0-2 in the 75th minute.
The embarrassing goal prompted the goons, who were hovering alongside the second assistant referee Thomas Achola, to invade the pitch and attack centre referee Ms Onyango for preparing to red card the home goalkeeper for attacking her.
The goons, who had visibly jetted into the stadium with the MP’s convoy, surrounded the referee as the Kiminini Combined FC fans hurled stones at the Bungoma Superstars Football Club technical bench, injuring one of their own team official who was calming them down.
The game then paused for five minutes as the entire visiting technical bench and reserve players sort refuge at the centre of the pitch.
With the home fans still threatening to throw more dangerous objects towards the visiting team, Bungoma Superstars refused to continue with the match until their Patron, Eng. Dennis Simiyu talked them down to honour the match up to the final whistle to avoid any blame.
The drama still threatening to curtail the match, centre referee bowed to pressure from the home fans and revoked the goal, giving a mere free kick to Bungoma Superstars that new captain Wilson Werunga drove some inches over the bar.
This was happening even as Hon. Kakai Bissau, the owner of Kiminini Combined FC, was watching in silence, not bothered to even calm down the irate fans.
Even after the resumption of the match, Arocho troubled the home defense to slot home for what could have been the (third inoficial) goal for Bungoma Superstars, as his strike hit the roof of the net before bouncing back into the field of play. Ironically, the panicking referee refused to award the goal.
The drama was not over in the 90th minute as the officials added 15 more minutes.
Moments later, the hooligans, now moved behind the Bungoma Superstars goalkeeper Brian Marani and sprinkled bottled water on Marani when he went to collect the ball for a goal kick, causing another chaotic scene
With no chances of the home team getting an equaliser, referee Onyango blew her whistle for full time as the home fans launched another aviation of stones towards the technical bench.
Speaking to this publication, Bungoma Superstars Patron, who is also the FKF Branch Chairman in charge of Bungoma County, slammed Hon. Kakai for entertaining hooliganism in football.
“It’s shameful that a whole security team guarding Hon Bissau can attack match referees under his watch without making efforts to calm down the situation,” said a disappointed Simiyu.
Eng. Simiyu also stated that his team has launched a complaint to the federation for actions to be taken against Kiminini Combined.
If approved, Kiminini Combined risk playing their next five home matches in neutral ground and without fans, as well as a heavy fine.
Today’s incident puts Kiminini Combined on the spot, with other Division One teams marking them with a third eye.
Such barbaric hooliganism should be shamed to the soils. It’s not clear if Bungoma Superstars fans will also pull a revenge when Kiminini Combined travel to Bungoma for the second leg.