dyton mupawaenda
Robson Sharuko-Editor
HOW bad are our referees?
Well, it depends about who you ask – Highlanders fans will tell you they are probably the WORST referees the world.
The Bosso family has been crying foul all week after the controversial handling of their Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final match against Simba Bhora on Sunday. Two match officials, a referee and his assistant, were suspended for their role in the abandonment of the game.
The ZIFA Referees Committee will tell you that our match officials are trying their best, in a very difficult working environment, in which they are targeted by hooligans and players who have become a law unto themselves.
They will tell you mistakes happen, even in the best leagues in the world, and there were serious refereeing issues in the Manchester City/Arsenal showdown.
But, when 20 referees are suspended in just six months of action, for questionable calls, it is probably fair for the players, and fans, to raise an alarm.
So, are our referees really bad?
Well, the best referees on the continent are rewarded with responsibilities to handle the AFCON and World Cup finals.
These are the tournaments which the likes of Felix Tangawarima, Brighton Mudzamiri and Wilfred Mukuna used to handle when the country had good referees, especially at the turn of the millennium.
Recent events, though, show that the level of refereeing in this country has gone down.
Even those, who used to consider local referees for such major tournaments, have turned their back on the current crop of match officials.
And, the statistics are damning:
· There hasn’t been a Zimbabwean referee at either the AFCON or World Cup finals in the past 16 years – there have been eight Nations Cup finals and four World Cup finals during that period.
· When one considers that local referees were not eligible to be drafted for the 2023 AFCON finals, because of the FIFA suspension, it means seven Nations Cup finals have come and gone without a Zimbabwean referee being called up for duty.
· Therefore, for a fair analysis, we will stick to the seven AFCON finals where our referees were eligible for selection but were not included because they were NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
· The last local referee to handle an AFCON finals match was Kenny Marange on January 25, 2008, when Cote d’Ivoire thrashed Benin 4-1 in Ghana.
· Since then, a total of 125 referees were appointed by CAF to take care of matches at the AFCON finals, between 2010 and 2021, and in all this there was no Zimbabwean referee who made the grade to be part of the show.
· These figures do not include the referees who handled the 2023 AFCON finals because the local referees were not considered for that assignment because of the FIFA suspension.
· A total of 147 assistant referees were appointed by CAF to handle matches at the AFCON finals, between 2010 and 2021, and in all this, there was no Zimbabwean assistant referee who made the grade.
· This means that a total of 272 match officials – referees and assistant referees – were tasked by CAF to handle matches at the AFCON finals, between 2010 and 2021, and there was no Zimbabwean match official.
· To highlight how bad our referees have been, one only needs to look at the unique case of a referee called Angesom Ogbamarian.
· He was one of the assistant referees at the 2010 AFCON finals in Angola and he is from Eritrea.
· The irony of it all is that Eritrea is the only FIFA member which is not ranked on the world football controlling body’s official rankings because they have not played a competitive game in the last 48 months.
· Eritrea would still have been bottom of the rankings, at number 211, if they were ranked as their last win in either a World Cup/AFCON qualifier was on June 16, 2007, when they edged Kenya 1-0.
· However, that such a weak football nation has been able to send a referee to the AFCON finals, in the past 16 years, when none of our referees have made the grade puts everything into context about how bad our guys are right now.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter