Orlando Pirates coach Mandla Ncikazi has slammed Simba SC after their 1-0 victory in their first leg CAF Confederation Cup tie saying they should be ashamed of themselves.
The Liga Kuu Bara giants secured a slender win in their first leg quarter-final at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Sunday evening after a contentious penalty was awarded in the second half.
Shomari Kapombe netted the resulting spot-kick which Ncikazi suggests was the wrong call and stated that they, in fact, should have been awarded one before the home side took the lead.
However, it was more than just the game that clearly riled up the Buccaneers coach as he left nothing back in his criticism of their stay in Dar es Salaam.
“I don’t think deserved to lose, one as Africans let’s change this mentality that when opponents come to Tanzania, you so hostile to them that you treat them like animals, so inhumane, everywhere you go, we treated so badly,” he said after the game.
“This is a game of sport that should unite us, but what you get are hostility and abuse. Secondly, the rules said we’re going to use VAR but VAR was not used today, go check, the penalty that Simba got is not a penalty.
“Our defender got to the ball first, secondly, Ndlovu, our player, before Simba got the penalty, we got the penalty but it wasn’t given, the referee doesn’t have the decency to check the VAR, or the VAR was switched off?”
Simba have been accused of hostilities before in CAF inter-club competitions, with several clubs lodging complaints in the CAF Champions League group stages this season, particularly around the Covid-19 tests procedures, but while they have not been found guilty of the allegation, Ncikazi says they should not be proud of their win and the media shouldn’t portray in that light either after what they were allegedly subjected to prior to their first leg tie.
“Why do Africans do this to other Africans, do you really think the hostility that we get when we come here when Simba comes to South Africa should we treat them that way,” he continued in his heated rant.
“Is that what you expect? And all of you here are going to lie and write lies, write the truth, Simba did not deserve to win. The penalty they got was not a penalty, the penalty we got was not given, VAR was not working.
“The treatment that we got from the stadium to the hotel, from the airport – why do you do this as Africans to other Africans, are we going to improve the football in the continent and we are all proud that Simba won, they did not win, the referee made them win.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves as Africans, but listen to this, we’re going to treat Simba with decency when they come, we’re going to show them what it is to be a true African by giving them the best hospitality and treat them like human beings.
“You don’t treat visitors the way we get treated here, you should all be ashamed. We did not deserve to lose, the officials caused us to lose.”
