SA referees brought in for Mbada Cup Semis

By Augustine Hwata

The blockbuster Mbada Diamonds Cup semi-final between Dynamos and FC Platinum at Barbourfields on Sunday is set to be handled by referees from South Africa as Zifa battles to contain the protests that have been triggered by allegations of biased match officiating in the domestic Premiership.

Another set of South African match officials is also likely to handle the other semi-final between Motor Action and Zimbabwe Saints at Sakubva on Sunday. It’s also certain that foreign referees, likely to come from Zambia, will handle the explosive Castle Lager Premiership decider between FC Platinum and Dynamos at Mandava in Week 29 of the league programme.

There has been a tsunami of protests, in recent weeks, centred on the way referees have seemingly been giving a helping hand to FC Platinum, who lead the race for the Premiership title by three points with three matches still to play.

Only on Sunday, after the Zvishavane derby won by a controversial penalty awarded to FC Platinum, Shabanie coach Luke Masomere appealed to Zifa to act quickly or risk the countdown to the end of the domestic season turning into a circus.

Assistant referee Stella Ruvinga was struck by a missile, during the commotion at Mandava as Shabanie fans protested against the way the officials were handling the match, and had to require treatment.

Former Dynamos captain Murape Murape piled on the pressure on the match officials, after the Glamour Boys had a goal disallowed in questionable circumstances in their goalless draw against Hwange at the Colliery, claiming FC Platinum were benefiting from the goodwill of match officials.

Gunners’ coach Moses Chunga and his skipper Quadr Amin both protested strongly over the way Chando Kupisa were bundled out of the Mbada Diamonds Cup quarter-finals by the Moneybags at the Colliery.

Although Gunners won their league match against FC Platinum at Lafarge, to complete a double on the platinum miners, Chunga was left fuming after the referee not only played added time that seemingly never ended but, crucially, did not expel ‘keeper Tafadzwa Dube.

The ‘keeper shoved a Gunners’ forward to the ground and the referee, who was rightly positioned, somehow decided to show him a yellow card for a foul that clearly demanded an expulsion. The irony was that Dube was available to play for FC Platinum, the following weekend, when they played Gunners in a Mbada Diamonds Cup quarter-final, with the ‘keeper producing a man-of-the-match performance at the Colliery.

Yesterday the Zifa board met in Harare and revealed that they were making moves to rope in foreign referees to handle the remaining highly explosive matches in the Premiership. Zifa have already installed their vice-president Ndumiso Gumede to take over as the leader of the referees’ committee to try and restore order after allegations surfaced of questionable conduct in the body, especially in relation to the appointment of referees.

Gumede took over from Samukeliso Silangani who was the acting boss. Zifa president Cuthbert Dube yesterday said his board was worried about the negative reports concerning match officials and said such accusations tarnished the image of the game as well as turning away sponsors.

The majority of the Zifa board members met in the capital were a resolution was passed to bring in foreign referees with South African match officials set to handle the Mbada Diamonds Cup semi-finals this weekend. PSL chairman Twine Phiri emerged out of the Zifa board meeting to confirm that the foreign referees were likely to handle the Mbada Diamonds Cup semi-finals.

“We are going to bring in referees from outside for both matches this weekend. That means for the game between Dynamos and FC Platinum at Barbourfields and also for the other game between Zimbabwe Saints and Motor Action,” said Phiri. Zifa president Dube was the architect of the script to bring in foreign match officials amid growing reports of biased officiating in the last few games of the Premiership.

“We are very concerned with what we are hearing and reading about referees in our football. It’s very bad for our game and I was going to have an ear with my young brother Twine Phiri (PSL president) and the (Zifa) CEO (Jonathan Mashingaidze) to see if we can have referees from outside for some of these explosive games.

“I hope we can get neutral referees from outside Zimbabwe and even some of our sponsors could be asked to foot in,” said Dube. Dube made the remarks as he commissioned a Zifa Constitutional Review Committee that is led by Cosmos Mukwesha with Tawengwa Hara, Tim Sangarwe and Tinofara Hove as the other members.

The quartet are lawyers while Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze is the ex-officio member. Last night The Herald was informed that Mbada Diamonds will bankroll the cost of hiring referees from South Africa for the semi-finals this weekend.

“Obviously, it’s a late call but something is being done as we speak to get referees from South Africa and the sponsors are ready to foot the costs because they also want the best team to win the tournament,” said the sources. “It’s a sensitive subject but it’s happening and a letter will be written to the South African Football Association to request them to provide us with referees.”

With reports of poor refereeing having taken centre stage in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League and Division One leagues, Dube briefly digressed from the main business of commissioning the constitutional review committee to tackle the issue of biased match officials.

Dube warned match officials that they face a possible ban from the game, in powers that will be given to the board in the revised constitution, if they were found to have been bribed. “Some referees could even be banned if it’s seen that they have taken bribes. We are taking this thing seriously and we cannot continue to hide behind the fingers,” said Dube.

Zifa vice-president Gumede wei-ghed in and said the reports of referees influencing matches surfaced just as they were working towards concluding the Asigate scandal. “It’s really worrying to note that we have just downed our yorks on Asiagate only to find that there are still people who want to make money in such ways,” said Gumede.

The long-serving football administrator challenged all stakeholders, including the media, to blow the whistle on the pointers to corruption by the match officials. “The media should expose such things. The good thing is that people will always talk if they find something has pointers to corruption.

“I also support the idea that big games be handled by outsiders could be seen as a criticism to the local match officials, and even the media could be critical, but this is also to show some people are dispensable. We can easily have match officials from Botswana, and Zambia while the South Africans can easily fly in. This will really help the process of cleansing our game,” said Gumede.

Foreign officials handling matches in other countries is not unique in football as the Cairo derby between Zamalek and Al-Ahly is traditionally handled by foreign referees.