Steve Barker claims Chiefs players apologised for poor refereeing
Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker claims Kaizer Chiefs players apologised for the referee’s poor officiating after their 2-1 loss at FNB Stadium on Saturday night.
In a post-match outburst, Barker revealed how “angry” he was about the officiating. The Stellies mentor vented his frustrations at the match official as he felt like his team was disadvantaged by the referee in their DStv Premiership clash.
Barker insists that Arthur Zwane‘s side were being favoured by the referee. And most of the decisions went against them.
CHIEFS PLAYERS APOLOGISED
The coach believes that the referee should have handled the match fairly. He reckons that the home side should not have awarded some of the free kicks “around the box”.
“I’m disappointed in the referee today. If you remember the game, I think they had double-figure free kicks around the box. I’m not denying that some of those free kicks were free kicks,” Barker told the media.
“But, I’m not sure why we didn’t have any free kicks in that final third.
“When opposition players even apologise to you about the performance of the referee, that means it was bad.
“Credit to the players for recognising that and being bold enough to say what they said. There is nothing I can do about it as it is over.”
‘CHIEFS MUST HAVE PRACTICE SESSIONS AGAINST 10 PLAYERS’
The 55-year-old mentor went on to say that Chiefs must be doing something special to force their opponents into errors which led to them playing against 10 players lately.
“I think Kaizer Chiefs must have practice sessions against 10 players than any other club,” he added.
“Because it seems like that’s all they play against.”
Stellies’ next task will be against KwaZulu-Natal side Royal AM away from home on Sunday, 9 April 2023.
The kick-off will start at 15:00.
RELATED STORY: Steve Barker explains the reason behind Rayners’ superb form