Photos of AS Kigali’s right defender, Akayezu Jean Bosco, trying to stop Referee Umutoni Aline from giving him a yellow card and holding him close to where he kept it in his chest, are still being recalled by some who say that it is abuse that this player did to this referee of a woman.
This happened on Saturday, December 9, 2023, when AS Kigali beat Rayon Sports 2-1 in the match of the 14th day of the Championship held at the Kigali Pelé Stadium, Akayezu Jean Bosco was given his first yellow card in the 62nd minute for delaying the ball, trying to eat up the minutes as AS Kigali was leading the game with 2-1 goals in front of Rayon Sports.
The behavior of this player changed when he brought down Tuyisenge Arsène near the penalty area, towards the corner, referee Umutoni Aline apologized for this mistake and many in the stadium immediately stood up and asked for a red card for Akayezu because he already had another one. of yellow, first threw the ball on the ground showing his displeasure with the decision.
However, that was over and Referee Umutoni had to do something about it as he was surrounded by Rayon Sports players including Bugingo Hakim, Rwatubyaye Abdul and Kalisa Rachid asking him to punish this AS Kigali player.
Akayezu remembered that he was going to get a second card, he would get a red card and leave the field, While Umutoni was working on the football bag he was wearing, asking him to take out the yellow card, Akayezu approached him trying to stop him and begging him not to take out the card, apparently begging him.
However, it didn’t work because Umutoni Aline took out this yellow card and raised the red one which was in the back pocket of his shorts, showing Akayezu who was standing with his teammate, Erisa Ssekisambu, who was also not happy with this decision because their team was left with 10 players. in the field.
Akayezu Jean Bosco didn’t seem to understand what was happening to him, he lost the strength to take him out on the field, but the referee Umutoni approached him, took him by the shoulders and told him that it was over, The incident caused some people to question RIB. Photos taken by IGIHE photographer, Ntare Julius, when this happened, continue to circulate around the world, especially on social media.
Although there are more than 30 of these captures, the most striking are the three that show Akayezu holding her chest [towards the chest where Umutoni Aline kept the card], trying to prevent her from taking out the second yellow card.
This photo and others like it, made the RBA reporter, Musangamfura Lorenzo, to say that “it is almost a crime of abuse”, Another one who returned is Nsanga Sylvie who is famous on social media as a women’s rights activist. He asked various agencies including the Ministry of Sports and the National Criminal Investigation Service (RIB) to follow up on these issues because women are still being abused in sports.Â
Is it otherwise allowed for a player to touch the referee?
The problem is where you did it or the heart that did it because football is a game where people play together, By showing that people are proud of each other on the field and have no problems [fair-play] they work hand in hand, and this is done before every game, Sometimes it is necessary for the referee to pick up the fallen player or the player who is acting for the referee.
Even so, there are other places that go beyond friendship, and only come to defend because of pressure and heat in the head, when you see a player who behaves inappropriately, you often hear stories of those who beat the manager of the game because of his displeasure with his decisions.
In this way the fans see what is happening on the pitch but do not know what is happening because they cannot hear what is being said. If you talk to some of the players or referees, they will tell you that there are often fights, where there is a referee who tolerates it but also insults you or chooses to fight against you.
