Colombe du Sud pointed the finger at the refereeing after chaos during Cameroon's Champions Trophy

The players of the reigning Elite One champions left the pitch at the military stadium on Thursday 26 February, 20 minutes before the end of the match, to protest against a penalty awarded to Panthère Sportive.

The referee blew the final whistle in the 90th minute after the Colombe du Sud players refused to resume play with the score tied at 1-1. While awaiting the decision of the certification committee, the management of Colombe Sportive has responded to the incident. The managers pointed the finger at the refereeing, citing a precedent.

At first glance, Colombe's management understands the embarrassment of our thousands of supporters who turned out en masse at the stadium to cheer their club to victory. It should also be noted that Colombe's management agreed to withdraw their players from the stadium in protest and out of frustration with this type of refereeing. In the space of a week, La Colombe played two matches against Panthère du Ndé. Each time Ndé's senior players went into the dressing room to talk to the referees, Panthère was awarded an unjustified penalty after the break. These surprising penalty decisions in Bandjoun last Sunday and tonight in Yaoundé, which were not signalled by the assistant referee and were accompanied by a red card for our captain, are clear evidence of injustice that seriously compromises the neutrality of the refereeing.

Indeed, La Colombe feels it has been wronged by the refereeing, even though it respects the governing bodies of football in the organisation of sporting competitions in our country. As proof, La Panthère beat La Colombe in the last Cameroon Cup final. La Colombe showed itself, as usual, to be calm, fair and concerned about living together in harmony.