Nigerians accuse Ukrainian referee, Kateryna Monzul, of racism in USA vs. Nigeria final group play in FIFA 2015 female World Cup in Canada

Posted by admin Headlines, NNP News, Soccer, Sports Tuesday, June 16th, 2015

Written by Staff Reporter, New Nigerian Politics

Nigerians across the globe have reacted angrily through several social media platforms at what they deemed as racism and poor officiating from 33 year old Ukrainian referee, Kateryna Monzul, in the final group play against the United States in the ongoing 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. The Super Falcons of Nigeria lost that encounter 1-0, a result that sealed their fate in the tournament played in the western city of Vancouver.

In a thrilling encounter before a near sell-out crowd of 52,000 plus, Nigerians alleged that a series of poor, biased and racist officiating against the African champions led to the needless caution of four key Nigerian players, Sarah Nnodim in the 38th minute, Onome Ebi in the 43rd minute, Josephine Chukwunonye in the 60th minute and Ngozi Okobi in the 68th minute. Sara Nnodim was given a second yellow card in the 69th minute for a harmless tackle and was sent off leaving the Africans to complete the match with 10 players.

Nigerians allege that many card worthy fouls against the Nigerian players were ignored by referee Monzul as her whistle suddenly went silent while she was all too eager to call fouls committed against the Americans. They referred to her demeanor while cautioning or talking to the Africans as condescending and arrogant while she saw no need to warn the Americans in spite of several rough tackles and plays.

Nigerians, despite their disappointment, praised their team (especially, goalkeeper Precious Dede with many saves) for taking the game to the Americans with 10 players in the face of poor officiating and clear racism of the Ukrainian referee towards the Africans.

They called on FIFA to investigate Kateryna Monzul for the great injustice she visited on the Nigerians. “This is a sad day for global football, what a way to demoralize a young team,” said a fan. Another noted, “The corruption in FIFA is pervasive and has also consumed the officiating crew. If FIFA is serious about stemming the ugly tide of racism, it should start with its own referees as we have seen today. Where do small teams like Nigeria turn to for justice?”

With the exit of Nigeria and Ivory Coast, the arduous task of representing the continent in the later stages of the tournament now falls on debutant Cameroon, which shocked the pundits in the final group match against Switzerland with a come back 2-1 victory.

-NNP

wp_posts