Player-manager of Mount Cameroon FC, Mutia Jonathan, who been widely criticised after his loose elbow caught Kimbi Edwin of EEMSA on full speed on Saturday, March 9 says the act was not premeditated.
Speaking to Kick442.com, Mutia Jonathan heralded that he has been receiving all sort of condemnation since the tragic incident occured in Tiko. “I’ve been hearing so many things about the action and thought it wise not to stay quiet or indifferent.I am speaking now so that everyone will know the truth. I never did the action in Tiko intensionally.You know it’s a football and I wouldn’t go to the field with the plan of injuring any player. We go to play and foul play in football is part of the game. “I didn’t punched Kimbi Edwin intensionally. I wanted to obstruct him and stop the counter attack, it was not a punch, but body weight.
“When I obstructed kimbi, it was a give and go movement upfront. He sent the ball to another player to take it ahead.
“People who don’t know are misinterpreting the action to be something else.”
Buffon and Ronaldo are all giving legendary statuses, because of the consistency and longevity they have both invested in the game; And to many, Mutia Jonathan is well within that bracket in the Southwest region of Cameroon as per the beautiful game.
The veteran has been in and around the game for a while now and currently embraces the role of player manager at Mt Cameroon, where he made a mark in his hail days.
“Let me explain something to you people; when you are in the field you don’t need to judge yourself again as a coach. No matter my age one of the first thing I need do is that to teach younger ones that football is not love, you don’t go to the field to make love. Football is a game of contact. This game would not look interesting if there’s none, but you need to apply wisdom when making contacts. I used to tell my players that this game is very hard and they need to be harder. If you are not a little bit harder you cannot win; I didn’t punch Kimbi Edwin and the referee can testify”.
Mutia Jonathan was red carded for his action but it remains to be seen if he would be on the sidelines as the gaffer during Mt Cameroon’s game this weekend.
It remains to be seen if Mutia Jonathan will get further sanctions or the Red card he got from Referee Fopa for his act will be the only sanction.
His outing is certainly necessary especially given that Southwest football just started a journey under president Thomas Ndive with a serious desire to take football in the region to greater heights.
Giovanni Wanneh
