Football, referees and expats
The call
IN February, while I try to figure out if in Fiji the current soccer season has started or the last one just ended, do you think the next time disgruntled fans call the referee murgi chor, the matter will be taken up by a local poultry organisation to end it for good?
I think this is one of the terms which has become exclusive to Fijian soccer.
In my view it is derogatory and demoralising for referees to hear this followed by a thunder of laughter from the supposedly knowledgeable soccer crowd.
Literally, local soccer referees are not thieves. Neither do they steal live chickens nor cut pieces from chicken fried rice. In all the rugby matches I have been a spectator, never have I heard referee butako toa.
Are soccer fans just present at games for these types of nonsense because holistically, Fiji soccer is not going anywhere?
MOHAMMED IMRAZ JANIF Natabua, Lautoka
Local expats
DONALD SINGH and Selwa Nandan express legitimate grievance about Fijians who have settled abroad being given lucrative jobs in Fiji (ST 4/2). They feel it’s not fair to Fijians who stayed back despite the hardship and adversity brought by the coups in the country.
After the 2006 coup I wrote in to come as a volunteer to help with the training of social welfare officers. I got no reply from the State authorities. A first cousin of mine who was a FSM gold medalist and topped her medical class in the US and had served in the hospitals in Suva and Ba also wrote to volunteer. She also got no response.
All local-expatriates are not opportunists. A genuine desire to give something back to their home country is what motivates some folks.
RAJEND NAIDU
Sydney, Australia
Drama and goals
LONDON-BASED Premier League side Arsenal claimed an emphatic 3-1 victory over league leaders Liverpool at the Emirates, to narrow the points gap to just two points.
Bukayo Saka scored the opener for the ‘Gunners’ in the early stages before an own goal drew the match level on the stroke of half time. Brazilian winger Gabriel Martinelli then netted midway in the second half before Leandro Trossard confirmed the three points with a tidy finish in injury time.
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate copped a red card for a second bookable offence late into the match, which ended any hope for the reds, who looked vulnerable throughout the match with the attacking prowess of Arsenal wingers Saka and Martinelli.
In another game in London, Chelsea suffered yet another embarrassing defeat at home, this time at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Wolves turned around their last-minute setback midweek to Man United, to claim a famous 4-2 victory over the already disjointed Chelsea side.
This defeat plunges the Blues into 11th place on the standings, who have been hovering between 10th and 11th spots throughout the season.
Meanwhile, Manchester United secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford, which took them to 6th place in the standings, just six points off the top 4.
Birthday-boy Rasmus Hoijlund scored the opener in the first half with a tidy right foot finish from the edge of the box to give United a 1-0 halftime lead before Alejandro Garnacho scored a brace in the second half to give United a much-needed three points.
One thing is guaranteed from the Premier League; there is no shortage of drama and goals!
RAYNAV CHAND
Nakasi