Dembare player banned by CAF

DYNAMOS rookie Peace Makaha has been handed a four-match ban by the Confederation of African Football. Makaha was convicted by the CAF Disciplinary Board for insulting the match referee during the CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations second round, second leg match against Cameroon last month.

A statement from CAF said action was taken on the Dynamos player after he "was expelled for insulting and (demonstrating) verbal aggression on the referee."

Zimbabwe lost the match 3-0 at the Stade Omnisports in Bafoussam to end their journey in the CAF Under-20 Afcon qualifiers a man down after Makaha was sent off following an exchange with the referee.

The teams had drawn 0-0 in Harare in the first leg. Young Warriors team manager Patrick Mutesva yesterday said he was yet to see the communication from CAF. "It hasn't been communicated to us officially as the technical team. But I had not expected it would come to that because when we talked to him about the red card incident he pleaded innocence.

"What we saw was that Peace committed a foul against a Cameroonian player and the referee booked him. "From where we were seated, obviously we couldn't hear what was being said but from the actions we could see that he was talking to the referee.

"When we asked him about it he said that he didn't say anything bad and hinted that it was a normal complaint because he felt the decision was a bit harsh on him. "So we're not sure exactly what transpired because he probably didn't disclose the full information. Which is why I cannot really say he didn't do it (insult the referee) or that he did it.

"Probably he feared that we were also going to take our own disciplinary measures," said Mutesva. Makaha scored the winning goal in the 2-0 win over Botswana to overturn a first leg deficit in the first round. The Young Warriors lost the reverse fixture 1-0 at Barbourfields.