Pirates coach Ncikazi laments hostility and poor officiating after Simba loss 

Following the loss to Simba SC in the Caf Confederation Cup over the weekend, Orlando Pirates coach Mandla Ncikazi lambasted the hostility that Bucs experienced in Tanzania and the poor match officiating.

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The Buccaneers lost 1-0 through a penalty scored by Salum Kampombe after Bernard Morrison went down inside the box. But, Ncikazi wasn’t happy with the call and said Pirates deserved a penalty after Siphesihle Ndlovu was fouled inside the box, but the referee didn’t even check VAR.

“I don’t think we deserved to lose, why, as Africans, let’s change this mentality that when opponents come to Tanzania, you are so hostile to them you treat them like animals. It’s so inhumane, everywhere we go, we get treated so badly. This is a game of sport that you denied us. What you get here is hostility and abuse,” said the Bucs mentor.

“Secondly, the rules say we are going to use VAR, but VAR was not used. The penalty that Simba got is not a penalty because our defender got to the ball first, secondly, Ndlovu, our player, before Simba got a penalty we got a penalty. But it was not given. The referee didn’t have the decency to check VAR (during the Ndlovu incident).”

Simba coach Pablo Franco on the other side was happy that his side didn’t concede a goal at home, but says they are expecting a tough game in the second leg in South Africa.

“Of course when you are playing in the first leg, you win the game and you don’t concede goals is a good advantage. But we know how difficult it is in the African continent to play away. We also know the quality of our opponents, Pirates are a great team. We know their performance at home is going to be better,” the Simba coach.

The return leg is set for 24 April at the Orlando Stadium, and the Buccaneers will look to win the match convincingly and progress to the next round of the competition.