Paul Samson blames poor officiating for Kwara United Confederation Cup ouster 

Kwara United’s Paul Samson has blamed poor officiating for the elimination from the CAF Confederation Cup following their 2-0 loss against RS Berkane of Morocco in the second preliminary round of the competition.

The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) had earned a positive advantage thanks to a first leg 3-1 win in Lagos but bowed in the return leg to a 2-0 defeat, crashing out via the away goal rule after a 3-3 aggregate scoreline.

“Let me just call it hard luck for the team. Then the referee did not give us the chance to play because they were just like family and not different from our opponent,” said Samson in a monitored interview by nigeriafootball.ng on Brila FM this week.

“We tried our best but it has happened. We can’t bring it back. It’s just for us to go home and focus on our league hoping for the best.”

Meanwhile, Technical Adviser of Bendel Insurance, Monday Odigie says North African clubs will continue to torment Nigeria teams in the continent if the Nigerian league doesn’t have the right structure in place.

He opined that when the right structure is in place, Nigerian clubs will get it right in the CAF Interclub competitions.

He said: “The welfare of these players is paramount. The North Africans will continue to torment us if we did not stay doing the right thing. They are not better than us because Nigerian players are more gifted than any players from North Africa.

“We need to make sure that the calendar runs well. Right now, we don’t know when the league will start. Whereas, the league is already on in most of the North African countries but we are yet to start.”

The two remaining Nigerian clubs in the continent, Rivers United and Plateau United were entered into the draw for the final Preliminary Round of the CAF Confederation Cup held on Tuesday.

Both sides dropped to the second tier CAF Confederation Cup from the CAF Champions League after surrendering 2-1 leads to Wydad Casablanca of Morocco and Esperance of Tunisia respectively.