Liberia: Bomi County Complains Referee George Momoh for Poor Officiating - FrontPageAfrica
Source: Front Page Africa
Monrovia - The steering committee of the Bomi County Sports Association has submitted a complaint to the Ministry of Youth and Sports against Referee George Momoh, who officiated their match against Lofa County in the quarterfinals of the ongoing National County Sports Meet.
According to a communication to the Sports Ministry, Bomi County stated they were robbed by the referee, something the county thinks is unacceptable. Bomi lost to Lofa in the quarterfinal match on Sunday, April 28, by 2-1, in a match where Lofa County was awarded a controversial penalty.
In their Letter of Complaint against Central Referee George Momoh, Bomi called for an Impartial Investigation as well as a Rematch.
"We, the Executives of the Bomi County Sports Association, kindly bring to your attention the UNFORTUNATE, OUTRAGEOUS, CONTEMPTUOUS, and TERRIBLE MATCH OFFICIATING of our quarterfinals game against Lofa County at the Samuel Kayon Doe Sports Complex in Paynesville on Sunday, April 28, 2024, with the below-listed counts."
"Central Referee George Momoh wrongly awarded a penalty to Lofa when there wasn't a foul committed in the penalty box," the letter said.
Bomi alleges that the Central Referee intentionally refused to blow his whistle when fouls were committed against Bomi County. Also, Bomi said Central Referee George Momoh's continuous intimidation of our players from start to finish, coupled with the many distractions on and off the playing pitch, would have given the referee and Match Commissioners more justification to add extra time, up to 10 minutes, instead of the unfair four (4) minutes of stoppage time.
The communication to MYS asserted that Referee Momoh's unprofessional, contemptuous, and outrageous actions, in which he robbed Bomi County of two cleared penalties and at the same time insulted our players.
They added that at 93 minutes, Bomi should have been awarded a corner. Unfortunately, the referee ignored the plea from the players and never consulted with the Assistant referee.
"Now, therefore, with these facts presented herein, we, as executives of the Bomi County Sports Association, hereby call for an impartial but speedy investigation against Central Referee George Momoh and a rematch of the game with Lofa County."
"Honorable Minister, it is our hope that this communication meets your timely and urgent intervention as we anticipate hearing from you at the soonest," the Bomi letter, signed by its Steering Committee Chair Abdul D. Kanneh, said.
Bomi County also attached video evidence to prove their claims against Referee George Momoh.
When contacted, the Ministry of Youth and Sports confirmed they have received an official complaint from Bomi County.
Speaking on Intel Sports, Deputy Sports Minister G. Andy Quamie said the complaint has been sent to the rightful committee to look into it.
"I hope the committee to investigate complaints will look into this in time so that we can end the county meet peacefully," Minister Quamie said.
According to him, the officiating in this year's county meet is below standard, and he will speak with the Liberia Football Referee Association to caution their referees to be at their best in matches.
Since the start of the 2024 National County Sports Meet, there has been a lot of poor officiating from the preliminaries to the quarterfinals.
With less than two days to the semifinals of the County Meet, it is not clear if the request from Bomi will be considered.
