Sports / Soccer
Whenever Dynamos drop points they complain about about Match officials
16 Jul 2014 at 09:41hrs | Views
CHAMPIONS Dynamos have formally lodged a complaint with the Premier Soccer League against the conduct of referee Darlington Shonhiwa during their derby clash against CAPS United with the top-flight body also persuading DeMbare to withdraw criminal charges they have pressed against the match official.
DeMbare and Makepekepe were deadlocked 1-1 in the Harare Derby at the National Sports Stadium last Sunday that attracted a good crowd of over 21 000.
Shonhiwa, handling his first Premiership derby since being promoted to the zifa Class One panel of referees, drew the ire of DeMbare with his conduct with the Glamour Boys skipper Murape Murape claiming in a police report that the match official had verbally abused his players all afternoon.
zifa Referees Committee vice-chairman Wilfred Mukuna said they had not yet received any formal complaint from the PSL or the clubs but pledged that they would conclusively deal with any complaints.
However, PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele last night revealed that Dynamos had since formally lodged a complaint with his office while the league had also asked the champions to withdraw the case that was before the police and "first exhaust the remedies that are available in football channels".
"We received a letter of complaint from Dynamos and we are going to forward it to the referees committee. The committee will probably engage the concerned referee and make their own investigations.
"These are just some of the unfortunate incidents that we have been facing of late in our football. Of course, these are big matches with a lot of tension and if there are any complaints the clubs know the procedure.
"We were quite surprised the issue had to take that route. From the terraces it looked like it was a very good game because we couldn't hear what the players and the referee were saying to each other.
"But whatever could have happened, the procedure remains the same. We don't rush to engage the police or the courts in football matters. Football is a contact sport with a lot of emotions as well. If we are not careful, soon we will have the police making arrests after almost every game.
"So, we have advised Dynamos to withdraw the report. We hope clubs will advise their players on the correct channels to follow in future," Ndebele said.
Murape charged that Harare referee Shoniwa was hostile towards them from the first whistle and was not amused after he allegedly insulted their mothers when they confronted him after the match.
"Fair Play doesn't apply to the players only, but to the match officials as well because the referee is part of the game. We don't expect a match referee to be using vulgar language on players. We are adults and we should respect each other for that.
"From the word go this referee was nasty towards us and I really don't know why. This man was abusing us during the whole 90 minutes with very bad language. How do you expect me to respond and risk being sent off?
"It's better for a referee to caution me than to insult me and my mother who is not even anywhere near the stadium. This guy was nasty towards us from the start," Murape said.
Shonhiwa also had a nightmarish end to his first Premiership derby after being pelted by missiles by some rowdy fans after the game.
Mukuna, however, said his committee would not rush into making any decisions before receiving an official complaint and also taken into account the match commissioner's report.
"We have not received an official complaint from the PSL as yet nor from any of the two clubs on the way the referee handled the game. But on our part we have secured a DVD of the match in question and we will review the footage and if we do find anything amiss we will not hesitate to take action and we will make public whatever decision we make.
"The commissioner of the day is also tasked with assessing all aspects of the officiating including whether a referee was nervous or not and we will get that information when we receive the match commissioner's report," Mukuna said.
The former fifa panel referee, however, defended the appointment of Shoniwa, arguing that it was based on merit and on the fact that he would have been among the best performing referees on their panel.
"It's not about how long he has been officiating in the league if he has been doing well he can be tasked to handle a big game.
"In my first year of handling Super League games in 1988, my third assignment was actually a cup final at Barbourfields between Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints and prior to that I had only handled two league games.
"So at the moment we risk just giving our opinions about what transpired, but the reports and the nature of the complaint will guide us accordingly," Mukuna said.
DeMbare and Makepekepe were deadlocked 1-1 in the Harare Derby at the National Sports Stadium last Sunday that attracted a good crowd of over 21 000.
Shonhiwa, handling his first Premiership derby since being promoted to the zifa Class One panel of referees, drew the ire of DeMbare with his conduct with the Glamour Boys skipper Murape Murape claiming in a police report that the match official had verbally abused his players all afternoon.
zifa Referees Committee vice-chairman Wilfred Mukuna said they had not yet received any formal complaint from the PSL or the clubs but pledged that they would conclusively deal with any complaints.
However, PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele last night revealed that Dynamos had since formally lodged a complaint with his office while the league had also asked the champions to withdraw the case that was before the police and "first exhaust the remedies that are available in football channels".
"We received a letter of complaint from Dynamos and we are going to forward it to the referees committee. The committee will probably engage the concerned referee and make their own investigations.
"These are just some of the unfortunate incidents that we have been facing of late in our football. Of course, these are big matches with a lot of tension and if there are any complaints the clubs know the procedure.
"We were quite surprised the issue had to take that route. From the terraces it looked like it was a very good game because we couldn't hear what the players and the referee were saying to each other.
"But whatever could have happened, the procedure remains the same. We don't rush to engage the police or the courts in football matters. Football is a contact sport with a lot of emotions as well. If we are not careful, soon we will have the police making arrests after almost every game.
"So, we have advised Dynamos to withdraw the report. We hope clubs will advise their players on the correct channels to follow in future," Ndebele said.
Murape charged that Harare referee Shoniwa was hostile towards them from the first whistle and was not amused after he allegedly insulted their mothers when they confronted him after the match.
"From the word go this referee was nasty towards us and I really don't know why. This man was abusing us during the whole 90 minutes with very bad language. How do you expect me to respond and risk being sent off?
"It's better for a referee to caution me than to insult me and my mother who is not even anywhere near the stadium. This guy was nasty towards us from the start," Murape said.
Shonhiwa also had a nightmarish end to his first Premiership derby after being pelted by missiles by some rowdy fans after the game.
Mukuna, however, said his committee would not rush into making any decisions before receiving an official complaint and also taken into account the match commissioner's report.
"We have not received an official complaint from the PSL as yet nor from any of the two clubs on the way the referee handled the game. But on our part we have secured a DVD of the match in question and we will review the footage and if we do find anything amiss we will not hesitate to take action and we will make public whatever decision we make.
"The commissioner of the day is also tasked with assessing all aspects of the officiating including whether a referee was nervous or not and we will get that information when we receive the match commissioner's report," Mukuna said.
The former fifa panel referee, however, defended the appointment of Shoniwa, arguing that it was based on merit and on the fact that he would have been among the best performing referees on their panel.
"It's not about how long he has been officiating in the league if he has been doing well he can be tasked to handle a big game.
"In my first year of handling Super League games in 1988, my third assignment was actually a cup final at Barbourfields between Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints and prior to that I had only handled two league games.
"So at the moment we risk just giving our opinions about what transpired, but the reports and the nature of the complaint will guide us accordingly," Mukuna said.
Source - The Herald
