Mamelodi Sundowns mentor Rulani Mokwena has hit back at Al Ahly coach Marcel Koller over his VAR complaints after the first leg of the African Football League [AFL] semi-final clash this past Sunday.
This comes after the Red Devils coach cried foul, claiming that VAR officials missed an obvious penalty in their Sundowns clash.
The Egyptian giants succumbed to a 1-0 loss to Bafana Ba Style in the AFL semi-finals at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Thapelo Maseko‘s solo goal in the 52nd minute of the showdown gave Masandawana an advantage going into the second leg set to be played on Wednesday, 1 November 2023.
The game will start at 20:00 [SA time] at Cairo International Stadium, in Egypt.
RULANI MOKWENA ON AL AHLY VAR COMPLAINTS
The 36-year-old Sundowns coach revealed that he was actually surprised by the complaints brought forward by the Al Ahly coach.
“I’m very surprised that Al Ahly complains about everything,” said Mokwena in a pre-match interview in Egypt.
“Before the first leg, Al Ahly complained that they can’t play at 15:00. And now, they are allowed to fixture the second leg game at the time that suits them. You will hear no complaints from Mamelodi Sundowns.
“I’m surprised that Al Ahly always complains about referees only when they lose.”
RULANI MOKWENA HAS HAD ENOUGH OF AL AHLY COMPLAINTS
Mokwena went on to say that Al Ahly is a reflection of African football and they should stop complaining about everything.
“Jose Mourinho once said when a big club starts to look for other factors apart from football when they lose they start losing status as a big club,” he added.
“I hope that’s not the case with Al Ahly because they are a reflection of African football. The rest of Europe looks at Al Ahly as a reflection of what African football represents.
“And my question after the complaint, what’s the intention? Because I can go through a list of incidents. Especially, where the referees did not act in a way I thought would be the just way.”
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