Sao Tome and Principe Coach Osvaldo Deus Lima walked off with the entire team after his side lost to Macau 2-1 at Tilak Maiden, on Thursday.
He was in no mood to attend the post match conference despite the best efforts of the organizing committee. Immediately, after the Indian referee Ranjit Bakshi blew the final whistle Osvaldo rushed to the match commissioner to give him a piece of his mind and expressed his displeasure about the refereeing decisions.
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He was seen shouting at the officials for the red cards and penalty decision that cost his team a place in the semi-finals.
When Herald enquired with Osvaldo with regards to the issue, he said that the referee’s decisions were not fair and came down heavily on the Indian officials for the tournament.
Osvaldo appeared to hint at a conspiracy after Thursday night’s dramatic last minute defeat against Macau and angrily claimed that the best team had lost.
“I’m upset but it’s not me that lost the game.”
He also seemed to be upset about the fact that his team had to play against a fresh Macau team which had an additional three-day break as compared to Sao Tome in a decider. While boarding the bus he said that it’s not about football hinting that he was unhappy maybe with the appointment of the Indian officials for a crucial match.
“I’m not going to say anything else. I don’t want to clarify anything if you want answers you please ask the organisers as they will be able to answer them better. They know why I’m angry because they are responsible for it.”
There were some protests outside the stadium from the Sao Tome team management accusing the LUGOC and ACOLOP of being biased. However, the football officials from the organising committee were not available for comments on the issue.
