Moffat Mungazi
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE Castle Lager Premiership outfit, Manica Diamonds, will face Chicken Inn at Sakubva Stadium tomorrow (Saturday), harbouring concerns about potential refereeing bias.
The home side’s apprehension stems from their previous match against TelOne at the same venue last Sunday, where a Gweru-based referee officiated in their 2-2 stalemate.
Ironically, TelOne is from Gweru.
The Gem Boys now fear that the upcoming match may be refereed by an official from Bulawayo, hoping for a more impartial officiating team when they face Chicken Inn.
Last week’s referee, Tafadzwa Zhou’s performance was marred by questionable decisions, leading many to suspect that he favoured the away team.
The refereeing appointment system has come under scrutiny, with many arguing that it is flawed.
The fact that Zhou hailed from the same city as TelOne raised eyebrows and sparked debate about the impartiality of referees in Premiership matches.
Neutrals observed that Zhou struggled to assert his authority, making several blunders that predominantly disadvantaged Manica Diamonds.
The penalty awarded on Sunday, for instance, was highly contentious and exposed Zhou’s ineptness or unfairness.
No wonder, the Gem Boys strongly protested against what the unfair penalty decision against them, given after a perceived a foul on striker, Tawanda Macheke.
The match was temporarily halted due to a dispute, but normalcy was restored by the host club’s chairman, Masimba Chihowa, allowing the game to continue.
The standoff resulted in a nearly 10-minute delay.
A retired referee, who wished to remain anonymous, shared their expertise with Post Sport, arguing that under normal circumstances, the incident in question should not have been deemed a penalty.
“The current mantra among referees is ‘is it or is it not?’ – implying that when in doubt, one should not award a foul or penalty. It is that simple. Therefore, in this instance, it is debatable whether it was an obvious penalty,” she said.
Moreover, it is perplexing and illogical that those responsible for appointing referees for Premiership matches would deliberately select match officials from the same cities or towns as the participating teams.
The decision to appoint a Gweru-based referee for a match in Mutare was particularly puzzling, especially considering that the referee, Zhou, arrived late and did not have time to warm up before the match.
Only his assistants – Chisumbanje-based Evans Chabatabere and Kudakwashe Marange (Mutare) – did warm up before the match.
The financial burden of hosting referees from distant locations falls heavily on the already financially strained PSL clubs.
These clubs are often expected to cover the transport fees for the referees, who typically demand reimbursement equivalent to fuel costs rather than public transport expenses.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Faith Mloyi, chairperson of the ZIFA Referees Committee, were unsuccessful.
Despite answering the phone, Mloyi hung up without responding to the questions posed.
Subsequent attempts to contact her were futile, and she failed to respond to WhatsApp messages on the same subject.
Online Reporter