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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
SCENES of indiscipline during Mutare Pool League (MPL) matches, which have led to abandonment of two matches so far in the ongoing 2023 season, are tainting an otherwise fast developing sport in the eastern border city.
A fortnight ago, the match pitting Showevrland and Beer Garden was abandoned after sharp differences over match officiating procedures and crowd trouble.
Last weekend, the encounter pitting Beer Garden and Villa Spot ended prematurely after a fan of the host team — Beer Garden — sprayed pepper spray as his team headed for a clear defeat.
Coupled with many unreported scenes of indiscipline, especially from fans watching the matches as well as rogue elements within some clubs, MPL risks losing the followership it had gained in recent months.
MPL fixtures secretary, Lloyd Samanga said: “The league is very much worried about cases of indiscipline being witnessed during matches. The disciplinary committee is seized with the matter and a lasting solution will soon be announced.
“There are also efforts that include having an umpires workshop that are being done to instil fairness and discipline in the game. It is beyond reproach that umpires also play a pivotal role in ensuring that we do not get unwarranted disputes during our matches, hence the need to have them equipped with requisite knowledge of managing situations during matches.
“We are also exploring several other ways of promoting discipline during matches and that exercise will be complete soon to pave way for the measures to be implemented,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rozvie Empire remains perched at the summit of the MPL latest log standings after thrashing hapless Snipers 18-8 in the last round of league fixtures.
The log leaders have since opened a relatively safer five-point gap between themselves and dark horses in the title race – Shoverland and Villa Spot.
Both Shoverland and Villa Spot are tied at 40 points while Rozvie Empire has amassed a tally of 45.
On the bottom end of the table, punching bags Buffalo and Mutare City only have four points each to show for the 15 rounds of league matches played so far in the MPL 2023 season.
Both teams have tasted victory only once since the season started.
Online Reporter