The Kenya Rugby Referees Association (KRRA) has come out in defence of match officials following increasing criticism of refereeing decisions during the ongoing National Sevens Circuit.Referees have found themselves under intense scrutiny throughout the competition, with fans, players and coaches regularly taking to social media to question contentious decisions made during matches.
Every tournament weekend, particularly on Sunday evenings and Mondays, social media platforms are flooded with video clips highlighting incidents where supporters believe referees made incorrect calls. Coaches have also been seen confronting officials after matches to seek clarification on key decisions that influenced the results.
The growing frustration has sparked a wider debate on the standard of officiating in Kenyan rugby, with some calling for greater investment in match officials rather than simply criticising their performances.Nondescripts RFC captain Ronnie Omondi was among those who expressed concern over the quality of officiating.
“Rugby refereeing in Kenya is so pathetic. Players are working so hard to improve the game, but the refs are working even harder to bring it down. We definitely need to address this refereeing issue as the rugby fraternity,” Omondi wrote on social media.
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Former rugby player Larry Asego, however, urged the rugby community to look beyond criticism and instead focus on developing referees.”Have you considered that maybe as every club invests heavily in players, nobody has invested in match officials?
How many referees have ever officiated matches or even attended refereeing clinics outside the 254? As we bash them, let’s also provide them an opportunity to grow,” he said.Nakuru RFC head coach Oscar Ouma also questioned the impact of a recent high-performance training programme for referees ahead of the tournament.
“They had a whole week of high-performance training just before the tournament, so one would expect to see some changes, but wapi. Anyway, ball mbele,” Ouma remarked.Amonde rules out legal action after KRU terminates Shujaa roleOthers believe technology could help reduce controversial decisions.
Rugby fan James Mwangi called for the introduction of the Television Match Official (TMO) system in Kenya.”It’s high time we invest in TMO as a country, because I have watched 90% of all matches on YouTube, and I can clearly state that we need it so badly for the refs to get a clear view of an incident instead of relying only on the touch judge. That’s why after every match people will always complain about the referee.
We can do better,” he said.Amid the mounting criticism, KRRA president Alfred Okwemba appealed to the rugby fraternity to support and protect referees, noting that mistakes are an unavoidable part of the game.TACTICAL ANALYSIS; Inside Nairobi United’s midfield acquisition Brian Musa”Errors will happen in rugby; it’s part of the game.
A referee can get a call wrong, just as a player can knock on a perfectly good pass. The difference is that when the player knocks on, everyone points at the ball; when the referee gets it wrong, everyone points at the referee,” Okwemba posted on his Facebook page.
He emphasised that the focus should be on learning and continuous improvement rather than assigning blame.”But in both cases, the important question is not simply ‘Who is to blame?’ It is ‘What do we learn from it, and how do we make the next play better?’
Referees, like players, need to review their performance, learn from their mistakes, and come back stronger for the next fixture. After all, no one gets a perfect scorecard every weekend, not even the man with the whistle,” he wrote.Up next, the circuit moves to Mombasa for the fourth leg, the Driftwood 7s, slated for Saturday, August 22 to Sunday, August 23 at Mombasa Sports Club.