Zambia to protest over referee's poor officiating in World Cup qualifier match

Zambia's soccer governing body said on Monday that it will lodge a complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) against poor officiating by a Senegalese referee in Saturday's 2018 World Cup qualifier match against Cameroon.

Soccer loving Zambians have expressed concern over the alleged poor officiating of the match by Senegalese referee Diedhiou Malang in the game which ended 1-1 in Limbe Cameroon.

But Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga said the referee's officiating was questionable as he allegedly made costly mistakes during the match, according to the soccer governing body's website.

Zambia, he said, failed to collect maximum points due to poor officiating, adding that the Chipolopolo deserved to win the match.

Zambia battled to a 1-1 draw with Cameroon during the must-win match on Saturday.

Zambia and Algeria have one point each in Group B of the African qualifiers while Cameroon has two points. Nigeria leads the group with six points.

Zambia lost the first game to Nigeria 2-1.

But stand-in coach Wedson Nyirenda has expressed optimism that the team has chances of qualifying from the group.

He told local media that there were 12 points to fight for and that what was needed was for the team to win the remaining four games. Endit