The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Referees Committee on Monday, issued a statement announcing the suspension of assistant referee Zondzi Ngosana for six weeks.
This comes after Ngosana awarded Simba Bhora a dubious penalty against Highlanders in a Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final clash played at Wadzanai Stadium in Shamva this past Sunday.
The 76th minute controversial call that Highlanders players disputed, led to the abandonment of the match.
As a result, the referees committee in a statement, wrote to Ngosana advising him of the suspension citing that he showed “low standard of officiating”.
“THE ZIFA Referees Committee hereby notifies that you have been suspended from officiating soccer matches for the next six matches.
“The suspension has been occasioned by your low standard of officiating in the match, Simba Bhora versus Highlanders at Wadzanai Stadium, Shamva, on 22 September 2024.”
Furthermore, ZIFA said: “In the match, the referee awarded a penalty to Simba Bhora for a foul which occurred outside the penalty area.
“As the assistant, you should have been marking the penalty area line which is parallel to the goal line. That way, you would have been able to see that the ball was out of the penalty area. That decision impacted on the match. The match was abandoned.”
Ngosana, who was the far-side assistant, incorrectly advised the main referee to award a penalty to Simba after a foul by Highlanders defender Peter Muduhwa on Tinashe Balakasi.
However, replays of the incident clearly showed that the foul had occurred outside the penalty area.
