adminThe resolution was reached at a stormy Zifa Central Region mid season Indaba which was held at Bata Club in Gweru where most clubs complained bitterly over the manner in which referees were deciding the outcome of matches through biased officiating.
Acting Zifa Central Region chairman Patrick Hill said the move to pay match officials through the region’s office was meant to minimise cases of inducement of match officials.
“Basically the concerns that were raised by clubs had to do with biased match officiating and we have resolved that the referees should sit down and try and solve the problem and be professional in matches they are officiating in so that we do not have abandoned games.
“What we have come up with in the second half of the season is that all referees will be paid at the office and no referee will be paid at the match venue and by so doing we are trying to reduce the risk of over payment where match officials receive bribes,” said Hill.
He added that all fixtures in the second half of the season would be played simultaneously in order to avoid pre-determination on the outcome of certain matches.
Referees have once again come under the spotlight this season and this led to the abandonment of the match between Tripple B and Vumbachikwe in the last round of the mid season fixtures after 34 minutes when the latter’s players and officials walked off the pitch after Tshintsha Magiya had been awarded what they felt was a dubious penalty. The match was subsequently awarded to Tripple B on a 3-0 scoreline and the Gwanda side fined $500 for causing the abandonment.
Silo played their match against another Beitbridge side, FC Strikers, under protest when they felt the referee had robbed them of a clear goal from a set piece in their 0-2 loss to Vavheneki.
Chapungu were also hauled before the league’s disciplinary committee after they assaulted a referee accusing him of biased officiating when they went down 1-2 to Blanket Mine in Gwanda.
Last year, the region was rocked by a match-fixing scandal which became known as Centralgate and claimed the scalps of region chairman Patrick Hokonya and his Southern Region counterpart,Gift Banda while acting referees’ chairperson, Samukeliso Silengane was also swept by the tide.
Online Reporter