MUSA BENJAMIN TELLS EAST AFRICAN R&Js TO AVOID PATRIOTISM
▪️ He decries dubious officiating in the Nakawa vs Nairobi contest in Kampala
Kenya’s national team head coach Musa Benjamin has advised referees and judges in the region to be professional and avoid patriotism when discharging their duties.
Musa’s remarks come in the wake of what he describes as dubious officiating in some bouts during the Nakawa Combined vs Nairobi County international friendly match last Sunday, February 2, in Kampala.
“Officiating was a bit wanting. Our R&Js should avoid patriotism irrespective of the nationality of the boxers in the ring,” a disappointed Musa told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview.
“They should just be firm and fair. That way they also contribute to the growth of both themselves and the sport.
“Poor officiating isn’t helpful to boxers in the long term because they become complacent believing they are good. Fair officiating complements the coaches’ efforts in uplifting our standards in the region.”
He cited three bouts the Kenyans were robbed of victory, and that if the judges were fair Nairobi County should have won by 8-7 bouts. Nakawa Combined defeated the visitors 10-5 bouts.
Musa, who is also the Secretary-General of the Nairobi County Boxing Association and BFK treasurer, travelled to Kampala as the team manager.
He said Nairobi’s light-flyweight Silas Onyango, flyweight Emmanuel Chondo and featherweight Chris Juma, won their bouts fair and square but the Ugandan judges decided to be more patriotic giving Nakawa boxers victories they didn’t deserve.
Onyango and Chondo lost on identical scores of 3-2 to Kato Kazibwe and Matovu Livingstone respectively while Juma went down 4-1 to Uganda’s African Games bronze medallist Kassim Murungi.
“Chris won I’ve no doubt about it. I spoke to him before the fight and shared our game plan. He just needed to move around sticking his jab to avoid short distance duel, using straight punches while changing positions was effective,” said the national team head coach.
Biased officiating aside, Musa praised their hosts for the warm welcome and sound organisation.
“It was a very important outing for our boxers at this stage, the show was well organised and full of value,” said Musa.
He went on: “Nairobi has great potential, the boxers have very good attitude and hunger for success. We need to work on their defence and movement, though,” he said.
“Such events are useful for the region, we should therefore organise many of them for the juniors, youth and elite boxers to gain the much needed experience especially improving their ring craft and ring generalship,” he added.
Many boxers such as Nick Okoth, Nick Abaka, Victor Onyango, Edwin Okongo, Boniface Mogunde, David Munyasia, Dick Otieno, Isaac Meja and Ethan Maina are products of these regional events that have played a big part in their organisation around East Africa Region.
