Why attempt to sanitise referees remains shallow

The recent ground-breaking decision by Fifa to sanction the replay of a 2018 World Cup qualifier between South Africa and Senegal has elicited noticeably different reactions across both sides of the spectrum.
While Senegal has greeted the order to replay the match - which ended in a 2-1 defeat for the Lions of Teranga - with unconcealed relief, South Africa has wasted no time in gloomily pleading its innocence.
A statement the South African FA put out a fortnight ago alluded to a misleading impression being created.

Manipulated match
An impression to the effect that the disgraced referee Joseph Lamptey manipulated the match in Polokwane with the South Africa’s blessing, perhaps even at its insistence.
Even before Fifa’s decision came to light, South Africa were far from running an estimable 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Failure to get the better of Cape Verde in a recent double-header had left quite some damaging impact on the Bafana Bafana’s Road to Russia hopes.
If an appeal to have a replay falls flat on its face, as many suspect it will, South Africa will come up against Senegal during the November international window.
Victory for Stuart Baxter’s charges then will effectively mean that events shall not have clashed so much as gently bumped against one other. Until then, though, observers can continue to hail the precedent that Fifa’s ground-breaking decision has set. Many opine that the decision does rich justice to one of the beautiful game’s key pillars - fairness.
But as we ready ourselves for the painfully topical cat-and-mouse drama that South Africa’s appeal will likely trigger, your columnist cannot help but fear that not much is being done.

In as much as Fifa mean well with a tough regime of sanctions that is unlike anything many have ever seen before, the world football governing body’s efforts come off as a classic case of papering over cracks.

Underlying issues
Indeed, symptoms of a malady are being treated here. To address the underlying issues, the powers that be (read Caf) must seek to put daylight between hosting FAs and refereeing contingents. Critics say the more the two parties operate in close proximity, the greater the temptation of attempting to manipulate results of a match.
When there is a collusion between the two parties, no inquest can have the authenticity - chaotic authenticity even - of a fly-on-the-wall account. Although it is hard to corral evidence of collusion, anecdotes paint a distinct pattern in which home side profit at the expense of their visitors.
For instance, while Uganda was aggrieved at the outcome following refereeing bloopers away to South Africa (2005) and Nigeria (2007), many decisions shockingly went against Congo Brazzaville (2012) in Namboole.
The tired cliché of things evening themselves out is simply not good enough, I’m afraid. Turns out neither is Fifa’s ground-breaking decision.
The refereeing problem has to be dealt with decisively. Ensure referees keep a studied distance probably by remunerating them better.

Coach Basena, make Uganda great on the road again

After a pay dispute that dated several months had come to a head, Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic - then freshly a former Cranes coach - used his farewell media briefing to revisit an incident that doubtlessly gnawed at his conscience.
The Serbian was in the dugout at Mandela National Stadium when Uganda surrendered its proud, long unbeaten home record at the hands of Togo.

Darkest day
As well as thanking a Ugandan journalist, who on that dark evening pointed out that Togo’s marque attraction - Emmanuel Adebayor - had been shackled, Micho also once again complained bitterly about the performance of the day’s referee - a Kenyan.
He particularly highlighted a penalty decision, which went against Uganda Cranes.

The outcome might not have been the sum of all fears, but it was easily the darkest day of the Serbian’s career as Cranes coach.
The irony in this all is that while Mandela National Stadium’s reputation as a fortress disappeared into ether, well at least on that day, one of Micho’s greatest if least lauded contributions was how he made Uganda formidable opponents away from home.
Before the Serbian took over Cranes’ coaching reins, Uganda had come to be known, sometimes with a note of derision, as poor travellers. Away wins seemed almost to fade from view.

Joy on the road
Micho ensured that Cranes got rebooted to considerable effect on the road. While the team did not always give a masterclass, it still won nine away competitive matches during his reign. The 15 goals scored juxtaposed against the two conceded suggest that the wins were hardly a dim showing. If anything, they added another draw to the Serbian coach’s roster of attractions.
Micho was always going to be a hard act to follow, but you have to say Moses Basena has made a fist of it. Basena’s 50 per cent winning ratio following doubleheaders against Rwanda and Egypt has prompted a hysteria pining for his permanent appointment.

The two losses suffered in Kigali and Alexandria have, however, pointed to a problem that stuck out like a sore thumb in the pre-Micho era. Having a sixth sense for away wins is what gets sporting outfits the world over a seat at the table of men. The past indigenous Cranes coaches struggled on this front. Can Basena prove to be an exception?

What we now know....

We know that Uganda lost all its group matches at the Fiba AfroBasket 2017 tournament.
In so doing, the Silverbacks failed to make it to the quarterfinals of the 29th edition of the continental showpiece.
We know that though Uganda was beaten by Angola, Central African Republic and Morocco, there were lots of positives to take. The fact that there were no blowout scores in the defeats is reassuring.
We also know that the experience the Silverbacks have picked will stand them in good stead going forward. They will ultimately learn how to hold their nerves in the clutch moments.

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@robertmadoi