Presidency praises Falcons after they fell victim to poor officiating in Women's World Cup

PRESIDENCY officials have condemned yesterday's poor officiating that led to the Super Falcons being defeated 0-1 by France in the Fifa Women's World Cup after the referee allowed the French team to take a penalty twice in the dying minutes of the game.

In their final Group A match that took place at Roazhon Park in Rennes yesterday, the Falcons were on course to clinch a point before Honduran referee Melissa Borjas awarded the French a questionable penalty in the 79th minute. To make matters worse, after the penalty was missed by French defender Wendie Renard, it was awarded again at the instance of Dutch video assistant referee Danny Makkelie.

In addition, Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie was issued with a yellow card for not keeping her feet on the line during the kick. Following the retake, the French managed to score, in what was a harsh few moments for the Falcons that saw Ngozi Ebere sent off for the original foul.

Presidential spokesman Mallam Garba Shehu, said: "Super Falcons deserve commendation for their performance against France. In soccer, refereeing can mean everything as we saw in today’s match."

After one victory and lone loss from their first two games against South Korea and Norway, the Falcons needed at least a point yesterday to guarantee a chance of qualifying for the Round of 16. In their first game, they lost 0-3 to Norway but recovered in their second game to beat South Korea 2-0.

With this loss, the Falcons now have to wait for the outcomes of other games to see if they will qualify as one of the best third placed teams in the tournament. France, the hosts of the tournament finished top of the group with nine points.