Assistant referee's mistake nearly ruins beauty of Heroes Cup final
Friday, February 02, 2024
Assistant referee Eric Mugabo during the game between APR and Police FC at Kigali Pele Stadium on Thursday, February 1. Photo by Craish Bahizi

A reversed wrong call by assistant referee Eric Mugabo late in the second half took centre stage as Police FC beat APR FC 2-1 in the Heroes Cup final at Kigali Pele Stadium on Thursday, February 1.

APR left-back Christian Ishimwe pushed a ball to throw which should have initially been awarded to Police FC. But Mugabo flagged for the ball to be thrown against Police FC, before rescinding his decision that it should, instead, be in favor of Police FC.

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APR players were caught ball watching as Shami Carnot threw the ball to Abedi Bigirimana. The Burundian crossed the ball for Agblevor who chested before firing past Pavelh Ndzila for the goal with just four minutes to end proceedings. APR players were not happy with the change of decision by Mugabo as they confronted over his decision. The game was put on hold for close to 10 minutes before it was resumed.

Police FC striker Moro Sumaila stated that Mugabo made the right call by awarding them the throw as everyone saw it was an APR player who kicked the ball out.

"This is not even debatable; I don't think [it] is even a problem. Everyone saw the throw was for us but the linesman made a mistake which he corrected in a split second," Moro emphasized.

"This happens all over Europe and elsewhere and is normal. They are also human and, above all, he made the right call again in a second.”

APR led through a Yunusu Nshimiyimana first half goal before Police dominated the second half and scored twice through Peter Agblevor to win the game 2-1.