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DeMbare will fly out today without their defender Guthrie Zhokinyi who was suspended by the Confederation of African Football for four games.
Zhokinyi was red-carded together with Archieford Gutu in DeMbare’s last Champions League match in which they fell 0-3 to Algerian side MC Alger in a highly tempered match in which all Dynamos players received yellow cards from the out-of-sorts Egyptian referee Fahim Omar.
Gutu is no longer with the Harare giants.
It could, however, not be immediately established why the DeMbare defender was suspended for such a number of matches. According to Caf statutes, Article 28, “a player
..who receives two cautions shall be automatically suspended from playing the subsequent match in Caf inter-club competitions. This automatic suspension shall be communicated by the Secretariat to the concerned associations.
“If the same player accumulates, later on in the same competition, two more cautions in two different matches, then the player will be suspended for two subsequent matches.
“A player sent off the field by the referee is to be automatically suspended from playing the subsequent match of the club’s competitions without prejudice to the other sanctions which the Organising Committee or other juridical bodies might impose on him subsequently.
“Between two sessions of the Organising Committee, the General Secretary, in consultation with the President of Caf, is empowered to apply disciplinary measures on all incidents registered on the official match reports, before, during or after the match, and this in conformity with the regulations of the competitions and Caf.”
Zifa communications manager Nicky Moyo-Dhlamini confirmed receiving the correspondence from the continental motherbody yesterday.
“The correspondence is already with us. Archieford Gutu is suspended for a single match while Guthrie Zhokinyi has been suspended for four matches. The offences were committed in 2011 but have been carried over to 2012,” said Moyo-Dhlamini.
With the rules stating that a player can be suspended for a maximum of two matches, there is a big possibility that the Dynamos player might have behaved in a manner that is deemed punishable even after his sending off or after the match.
Part five of Article 28 clearly states that the organising committee, the General-Secretary, in consultation with the President of Caf, is empowered to apply disciplinary measures on all incidents registered on the official match reports, before, during or after the match, and this is in conformity with the regulations of the competitions and Caf, the continental body, might have applied this clause.
Zhokinyi’s poor disciplinary record has already seen him get a red card in the season-opening Bob 88 Super Cup match.
Online Reporter