Bandari FC head coach Bernard Mwalala watches on during his side’s Kenyan premier League clash against KCB at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on December 22, 2018. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 29 – Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards are benefiting from ‘dirty tricks’ using their fans to intimidate referees to get positive results, Bandari FC head coach Bernard Mwalala has claimed.
The former Kenyan international, who has seen his side lose to both Kenyan giants over the past one week, has further claimed that without their fans, Gor and AFC would be ordinary teams.
“When playing Gor and AFC Leopards, the fans always try to intimidate the referees and this affects them because they lack a stand when making decisions. It has worked against us in favour of Gor Mahia last week and now AFC Leopards,” Mwalala lamented after his side’s 2-1 loss to AFC in Machakos on Sunday.
“Against Gor Mahia we had a clear penalty which was denied. Again in the AFC match there were questionable decisions called by the referee because of the intimidation from the fans who started throwing stones,” the Bandari coach lamented.
“Without intimidation, it will be hard for AFC Leopards to beat anyone in this league. The fans help these two teams get results by intimidating referees. Without fans, AFC and Gor are ordinary teams. They are using dirty tricks to get points,” further claimed Mwalala.
AFC Leopards midfielder David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng wins the ball against Bandari’s William Wadri during their Kenyan Premier League clash at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on April 28, 2019. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
Bandari lost 1-0 to Gor in Kisumu last week Tuesday and went on to lose to AFC Leopards on Sunday, results that have seen their bid for a maiden Kenyan Premier League title all but crashed.
Despite slumping 10 points away from leaders Gor, Mwalala still believes they can vie for the title, but only if they avoid defeat in their remaining nine games.
“We are still there for the run in. If we can be able to get points in our next game that will be okay for us. We have lost twice in a row but we need to work hard and get back to winning ways. If we lose another match it will be tough but we are still in the race. No one has been crowned champion yet,” Mwalala outlined.
The coach, who still has a chance to vie for a title with the dockers in the semi-finals of the FKF Shield, says their main undoing has been finishing and hopes he can improve that ahead of their next game against Ulinzi Stars at home on Labor Day.
“I think in this league we are the team that creates the most chances but our problem is that we cannot finish. This is what we will work on over training,” he said.
“The loss against AFC wasn’t painful to me because I think we played very well better than them and we lost like men. It is rather to lose this way than play poorly and lose,” he added.
