Dubious offside beneficiary feel Gadzikwa turned into scapegoat

DYNAMOS FOOTBALL CLUB feel Bongani Gadzikwa is a scapegoat after he was suspended for the wrong call he made during their clash with Highlanders on Sunday.

Dembare say clubs have all along been suffering in silence over questionable decision by local referees.

Gadzikwa was suspended on Monday pending investigations, just 24 hours after he had turned down what appeared a genuine goal for Highlanders, ruling that Edmore Muzanenhamo was in an offside position when he scored from close range.

Television replays appeared to show otherwise.

Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa yesterday told The Herald that although the decision taken by the assistant referee was debatable, the situation was not anything different from similar cases that have passed without any action.

Mubaiwa said Gadzikwa was being sacrificed because the match was live on television and that it involved big teams.

He said the swiftness by the Zifa Referees Committee to suspend the referee has never been seen in the local Premiership despite complaints from clubs that they were suffering injustice at the hands of match officials.

"The questions that you then ask yourself are that what happens to those other cases where no action was taken against the referees?" said Mubaiwa.

"Why should this case be more special than the other cases we have witnessed in the Premiership? After this, there will surely be other cases and I doubt similar action will be taken.

"Just because it was live on television does not make this match and the decision taken at that stage different from what we witness in other matches.

"What happened to decisions that have also gone against some of us? Have the officials been suspended as well after those matches?"

The decision to suspend Gadzikwa, he said, puts Dynamos in bad light when "we have had many situations when we also felt robbed."

"We had a clear goal turned down when we played against Tsholotsho with the assistant referee signalling off-side.

"For them to then treat this case like it is more important than all the other cases of poor officiating, it raises eyebrows."

Mubaiwa said that the penalty awarded to Highlanders in the first half was also subject to debate.

"What people must understand is that we are not saying poor decisions are okay. However, the actions taken by the Referees Committee must always be uniform in all other cases even if the match is not live on television or not or whether it involves Dynamos and Highlanders or not," Mubaiwa added.