By McGeorge Mbare
Ugly scenes that paints a gloomy picture on Zimbabwean football unfolded in the Chibuku super cup quarter final clash between Simba Bhora and Highlanders at Wadzanai Stadium in Shamva yesterday.
The unfortunate abandoning of the match was triggered by a contentious penalty kick awarded to Simba Bhora with barely 10 minutes to go before the end of the match. Highlanders argued that the incident happened outside the box and available video replays show indeed it was outside the box.
In the ensuing protest, Highlander’s captain and goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda refused to take his position in goal just after the controversial penalty decision, resulting in the referee Cecil Ngwerere to eventually ending the match.
The match officials firstly summoned the two captains trying to resolve the protest and find a way forward but it failed .Further attempts to engage with captains came to naught as Sibanda led his team in walking away leaving the referee with no choice but to end the match barely 10 minutes before stoppage time.
While it is not questionable that Highlanders were rightfully aggrieved, it is their behavior of walking away from the game that makes them the offender. For starters, Simba Bhora were not in charge of the match official, and causing a match to be abandoned does in no way solve the problem.
In the world football, FIFA rules state that the referee’s decision is considered to be final hence the behavior portrayed by Sibanda and teammates showed the lack of sportsmanship and discipline because referees do makes mistakes, they are human after all.
It has been seen in Europe that even those who use VAR in Europe do makes mistakes, what more about those who use naked eye like Ngwerere its almost impossible for not to make one..
Such behaviour portrays a bad image of Zimbabwean football and gives negative vibes to any would be sponsors and those who are willing to invest in Zimbabwean sport including the fans who pay and travel to watch matches. Zimbabwean football and sport in general is crying out for corporate support and what was witnessed yesterday makes a mockery of that cry for sponsorship.
The parent company for Chibuku, Delta Beverages also sponsors the Premier Soccer League and honestly the football family ought to show some respect by behaving in a way that does not bring the name of the sponsor into disrepute.
The ZIFA referees committee also ought to do much better in preparing its referees to do their work competently. Whilst human errors can be forgiven, the consistence with which referees have hogged the limelight paints a picture of a profession that might be in the intensive unit.
Highlanders Kelvin Kaindu highlighted that the behavior displayed was disappointing especially for the football brand and image could likely affect local league.
“It’s quite disappointing if this is what we are going to display in our local league .it is affecting our sponsors and it also affecting the league .it is not a good thing if we are not completing matches” .Kaindu said.
According to sports reports, the displinary committee will now determine the outcome of the match to decide which team will meet Ngezi Platinum in the semifinal.