Two Nigerian clubs have taken different approaches in their reactions to elimination from African continental club competitions, as Kano Pillars are heaping blame on mach officials, whle Plateau United of Jos issued an apology to their fans, megasportsarena.com reports.
Plateau United exited from the CAF Champions League, following a goalless draw away to Simba SC of Tanzania, who defeated them 1-0 last weekend, while Kano Pillars crashed out of the CAF Confederation Cup at Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, after a scoreless draw with Senegal’s ASC Jaraaf, who won the first leg 3-1 in Dakar and again created the better chances in the reverse encounter on Saturday, but failed to put them away.
While Pillars cried foul, their Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) counterparts from The Tin City apologized to their fans and well-wishers after the domestic champions crashed out of their continental campaign in the first preliminary round on Saturday.
The Jos-based side played out a 0-0 draw against their opponents in Tanzania to get eliminated on 1-0 aggregate score, as they had on Sunday last week lost 1-0 at home and needed at least 2-0 win to qualify to the next round.
That feat was not achieved as they were bundled out in the first preliminary round and officials of the Plateau State-owned team, which travelled to Tanzania with 45 delegates, quickly took to social media to apologise for their inability to go beyond the first stage
“We apologise to all our fans and well-wishers. We wanted more, but we fell short. We’ve learned lessons,” United’s media united posted, but Pillars were defiant on their part, as the inglorious Confederation Cup campaigners blamed their woes on the referee after they failed to score during the reverse fixture in Kaduna on Saturday and got eliminated on 3-1 aggregate.
Pillars’ coach, Emmanuel Lionel Soccia lamented: “The game was successful. Though in the first game poor officiating from two offside goals against us. We deserved two penalties and were denied. The officiating was bad. If you have a good referee, the game would have been good.”
