HARARE – CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe on Sunday continued with his newly found trend of avoiding expressing himself during post match briefings.
Chitembwe remained tight lipped again after his side’s 1-1 stalemate against city rivals Dynamos after an exciting Harare Derby played at Rufaro Stadium.
This comes after Chitembwe says he fears to find himself on the wrong side of the law by the Premier Soccer League [PSL] if he provides his ‘honest’ critique particularly regarding referees.
Asked to share his assessment on the 1-1 draw against bitter rivals Dynamos, Chitembwe said: “Like I have always said, unfortunately I’m a man of few words these days. I don’t want to speak (comment) much obviously for fear of (repercussions) from the PSL.
“I don’t want to ruffle feathers with the authorities,” Chitembwe told journalists.
Referee Brighton Chimhene ended the second half of the match prematurely with 44th minutes of time played.
Pressed to comment on Chimhene’s decision, Chitembwe added:
“What am I supposed to say? At the end of the day I don’t make those decisions, those kind of decision got me in trouble so I shall not speak.”
In the last three games, Chitembwe has been reluctant to provide thoughts or an ‘honest’ critique about matches.
It probably comes after he was fined $400 last month for criticising match officials following a controversial call in their abandoned match against FC Platinum at Mandava in Zvishavane.
After the game, he did not mince words, blasting the match officials for ruling out a goal by Ralph Kawondera for an offside in the dying minutes of the match at a time they were trailing 1-0.
“It has been the problem in our football, where the wrong man takes centre stage. It’s just unfortunate and it has probably reduced this PSL to a comic show. It’s very unfortunate,” he said.
Consequently, he was found guilty for contravening Order 31.2.16 of the PSL which states that its an offence to make “any statement, either orally or in writing…insulting or improper behaviour, or likely to bring the game, sponsors any member, the League, ZIFA, CAF, FIFA into disrepute.”
But of late, Chitembwe is now bottling up, and his silence is speaking volumeS with his current strategy of one word answers simply showing his frustration.
