Harambee Stars leftback Abud Omar has offered his side of the story regarding the red card he received during Kenya’s match against Zanzibar at the 2025 Mapinduzi Cup.
Speaking about the incident to Tata Sports, Omar who was the Harambee Stars Captain during the tournament explains that the sequence of events wasn’t as it appeared.
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“First thing, I think most Kenyans didn’t watch the game, so at the end of the day, the media will see what they want to see and then criticize people,” he said, acknowledging the criticism that followed.
The Kenya Police defender emphasized that despite being the one shown the red card, he was not involved in the original altercation.
“I want to apologise because I was the captain, but in that scenario, I wasn’t even there. There was someone who hit the referee; I wasn’t the one,” he clarifies. Omar took responsibility for the outcome but revealed that his actions were aimed at protecting his teammate.
“I took the referee’s card to protect the other player, and the blame went to me. So there’s no problem. As a captain, I protected my teammate,” he explained.
The experienced defender who was skippering the side red carded in the match after having an altercation with the match official during the Mapinduzi Cup match against Zanzibar in Pemba, Kenya went on to lose the match by a solitary goal to nil failing to qualify for the final of the tournament.
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