Foul! A cry from the terraces

The biggest story of the week was undoubtedly the verdict of the Zifa appeals committee whose weight was felt far and wide across the country. The Appeals committee overturned the decision of the PSL Disciplinary Committee to nullify the result of the league match between Dynamos and Hwange, which the Glamour Boys had won 4-2 at Rufaro. The Disciplinary committee had ordered a replay, and fined Dynamos after Hwange coaches did not sit on the bench on that particular afternoon after  being assaulted by Dynamos marshals and the coal miners felt the game was not played under sporting conditions, thus their complaint to the PSL and the ordering of a replay.

However, the Appeals committee felt the Disciplinary committee erred in that they did not call the accused marshals to the hearing, there was no evidence that Hwange players were psychologically affected by the assault on their coaches and there were no medical records to prove the extent of injury to the coaches, so they argued. In their own opinion, Hwange boys were geared to play, even without coaches with a team medic the only official on the bench, and to prove that, they managed to score twice! The Appeals committee felt only a fine would suffice to deter Dynamos from being violent in future.

What triggered a nationwide, no, a worldwide response was the three points awarded to Dynamos which took them to the summit of the log. They have the same number of points with unbeaten Highlanders, but they have a better goal difference than the resurgent Bulawayo giants.

It was a game that ordinarily, should have aroused interest from Hwange and Dynamos. But because football will always have spectators and interested parties, the terraces were full. They were full of Highlanders followers who were quick to cry foul, once the verdict was passed. Even Hwange, who might as well have been left writhing on the ground as Dynamos went away with maximum points, their cries were drowned by the “foul” cry from the terraces of predominantly Highlanders fans.
Of course, Hwange are bitter and have said they will take the matter to the next level, which is the Commercial Arbitration Centre, but their cries have been drowned by those watching the game.

Spectators are always more than the players by the way! On the other hand, Dynamos fans have applauded the referee for waving play on, sending across a salvo of insults to those who are crying foul, and have been joined by those who have been christianed “haters” by the Highlanders family.

There are some football followers who are known to support other teams, be it Caps United or any other team you can think of, and when they were heard joining the midweek celebration party by Dynamos, they were confirmed as “haters” by Highlanders fans, simply because they would celebrate anything that goes against Highlanders. Even if Highlanders were to dance with the angels, they would opt to dance with the devil!

There were a lot of angry responses from Highlanders fans and one of them believed Hwange were being punished for doing what is right. He argued that after the assault of their coaches, Hwange could have simply walked away and refused to play, but the coal miners chose to write a letter of protest to the match commissioner and played under protest with no coach on the bench, simply because they did not want to disappoint fans who had paid to watch the game and the sponsors of the league and teams.

There has been a lot of talk about the case involving former Warriors coach, Reinhard Fabisch—may his soul rest in peace—who won the Warriors replay after he was struck by an object by Egyptian fans in Cairo in a game that the Warriors lost to the Pharaohs 1-2 and a replay was ordered by Caf at a neutral venue—Lyon in France. That was the precedent that had won favour for Hwange in the first place.

But Dynamos hit back, arguing that when captain Memory Mucherahowa was head-butted during warm up ahead of the away return leg of the final of the African Champions League against Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast, the result stood even though Dynamos lost without their captain and most influential player on the field. The cause for debate here then lies on that can you equate the influence of a captain or player, to the influence of a coach and his assistant in a team’s performance?

The exchanges have been interesting to follow on the social network Facebook, though some of them became too heated, full of anger and extended beyond the beautiful game.

One Gift Mambipiri wrote; “Admittedly, Dynamos have played some dominant football, but I don’t think they need this help from Zifa. To suggest that the loss of the Hwange coaches after being beaten by Dynamos bouncers had no effect on Hwange players is to dismiss the importance of coaches during matches. Imagine Real Madrid without (Jose) Mourinho barking from the touchline, or even Dynamos without Calisto (Pasuwa) to read the match and make critical tactical changes?”

A Highlanders fan Abed Dube calmed his fellow supporters; “We can still win this championship. It’s ok it happened sooner than later, we all knew it was going to happen anyhow, we were only worried about when. We have been through this road since 1980, so this is not news to us…the question we should ask ourselves is where to from here, because we are not pulling out of the PSL. I suppose we don’t have much of a choice but to concentrate on our last remaining games and win them, let us take this as a motivator, painful as it may be, we won’t waste our energy whining and complaining.

Let’s waste it in supporting the boys, in supporting Kelvin Kaindu (Highlanders coach), in supporting the Bosso family.  When we win this championship, we will look back and have something to talk about. When we win this championship, we will talk about us as the real champions who win fairly and squarely against all forces, against referees, against the PSL, against Zifa….Bosso….we are the real champions, we know that and we will prove it. Asibambaneni in this fight. God Bless Bossolona.”
Some even accused Dynamos of getting boardroom favours all the time.

Siphambaniso Dube said Dynamos always do as they please and get away with it, pointing to a case where they refused to play against Hwange at the Colliery, arguing that the referees were changed at the last minute. The match was initially a walk over, in favour of Hwange, but a replay was later ordered by the league.

Mayisa Phakathi Mbokazi said “Zifa has elevated their team DeMbare to the top.”

Lloyd Gumbo weighed in saying; “While the PSL was trying to give shape to our league by striking a deal with SuperSport, Zifa appeals committee was busy taking us back to the era where some animals are more equal than others.”

A freelance journalist based in Swaziland wrote. “Today they (Highlanders) stand three wins away from breaking the Zimbabwe Saints and Dynamos held record of 23 matches unbeaten which by the way was counted in more than one season. But for single season starts Bosso have gone the longest and obviously in the process have earned admiration and enemies in this great rivalry.

It is the enemies who have reminded Bosso that even if they win the championship they will not represent Zimbabwe in the Caf Champions League (after being suspended for three years for failing to take part in the Confederations Cup in 2011) which is one of the several tokens that come with being crowned champions.

But there is the trophy, the prize money, the medals for the players, coaches and executive, better chances for corporate support and above all the bragging rights and thus ineligibility to participate in the Caf Champions League should not be the reason for not targeting the title.

Though I will not dwell much on how fair or how unfair the verdict was but merely hope it was arrived at with due diligence and it remains a Dynamos and Hwange issue, unfortunately those more adversely affected have been Bosso.

What remains for Bosso is how they take themselves from this point to the home zone if they still believe the championship is theirs, as everything is God-given and no manipulation can change Godly plans.

However, the complaints were expected from those who sympathise with Bosso or with Hwange, and the applaud was equally expected from those who support Dynamos. I think it’s only natural and then one may want to ask: Where is the voice of reason in all this?

The response was from all over the globe and at some point the nation forgot that there is an important game at the weekend when the Warriors take on Angola in the final qualifier first leg of the 2013 Afcon tournament to be played in South Africa.

The preparations have been bad for the team, as players have been coming into camp one by one, casually, as if they are coming for a wedding.

And some key players like Knowledge Musona will not becoming because Zifa sent invitation letters late to their clubs, it’s a pity.

But all the same, we wish the Warriors all the best tomorrow and the whole nation must rally behind them.

For comments and contributions, email [email protected]. You can follow this writer on Twitter and Facebook.