Nearly two months since we published Biri Biri’s crucial penalty miss in the 1983 Zone II Championship in Mauritania, the story continues to dominate discussions.
When Biri tried to explain the circumstances surrounding his decision to take the spot-kick instead of regular penalty taker Bai Malleh Wadda, he said it was because none of his teammates were willing to take it and since he was the most senior player in the team, he had to.
But veteran football commentator Tijan Masaneh Ceesay refuted those claims more than a month ago by claiming that the former Sevilla player connived with Player-Coach Saihou Sarr to deprive Bai Malleh the opportunity to take the kick and add on to his goal tally as he was vying for the leading goal scorer of the tournament.
But Biri has hit back to rebuke Ceesay’s allegations. Speaking in a GRTS interview last week, the Wallidan hero said the veteran journalists’ claims were unfounded.
“This is just basic common sense because every rational thinking person who knows me and knows Saihou Sarr would tell you that the two of us cannot connive to deny a teammate the chance to win the leading scorer of a tournament; it just doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
“In fact even though I missed the kick, the direction I kicked the ball and where the goalkeeper went were even different.”
