Men of Glamour, honour don’t cry

newcomers and leaders FC Platinum?
So, the Premiership’s longest serving and most experienced player comes out in the national press and tells the nation “one team is getting the favours and I have never seen such a situation before.”
So, the discussions on social sites, kombis and the press is all about the richest team in the land using their financial muscle to influence referees to sway matches in their favour.

FC Platinum currently lead the PSL log by three points and are the bookies’ favourites to clinch the coveted title in their first year in the top-flight. And many people believe there are underhand manouvres by the Moneybags to splash out cash to match officials to aid their march to the Holy Grail.
Interestingly, noone raised an issue for the better part of the season but the noise has just hit a crescendo in the run-in for the title.
And look who is crying the loudest – the Dynamos players, officials and fans. Yes, Mighty Dynamos, of all teams. How times change. These are surely unchartered waters for us because, since time immemorial, Dynamos have been known to be the biggest beneficiaries of dubious refereeing decisions in Zimbabwean football.

Ask Felix Matsika of Amazulu, Tavengwa Hara of Njube Sundowns and Simeon Jamanda of Motor Action. But before the football family jumps into the ocean of conclusion, three questions beg for answers.
Is it really TRUE and PROVEN that FC Platinum are bribing match officials and administrators? Are not some of these referees just INCOMPETENT?
Is this situation without precedent in local and international football? Three incidents have been given the spotlight in recent weeks. I was there when the first incident happened on Matchday 26 when

Gunners hosted FC Platinum at LaFarge. Midway in the second half, Tafadzwa Dube, inexplicably shoved a Gunners’ striker to the ground in a blatant off-the-ball incident.
Naturally, Dube should just have been sent off, but much to most people’s surprise, the referee just flashed a yellow card. Yes, the referee erred big time but would it be right for Murape and the Dynamos fans to allege that the referee received cash just to maintain the number of FC Platinum’s players on the field at 11 during the match?
After all, FC Platinum went on to lose the match. Yet Murape chooses to conveniently ignore the fact that, just 24 hours later, he was a beneficiary of a strikingly identical refereeing howler as

Dynamos hosted Highlanders at Rufaro.
I was also there when Murape, who had earlier been shown a yellow card, pushed Bekithemba Ndlovu as the Bosso player lazily walked away from the pitch after being substituted with the match deadlocked 1-1.
The referee brewed a shocker and continued play and did not, as many expected, flash a second yellow or a straight red card to Monya. And not one soul alleged that Dynamos had bribed the referee to make such a diabolical decision.

If there is anyone who can cry foul then it has to be Gunners, who could have benefited from Dube’s expulsion, only for the goalkeeper to make full use of his second life to produce a man-of-the-match performance against Moses Chunga’s men in the Mbada Diamonds Cup a week later.
The second incident occured last Sunday in the derby between FC Platinum and Shabanie at Mandava. FC Platinum won the match courtesy of a hotly-disputed penalty awarded by top Harare referee Ruzive Ruzive. Unfortunately, I was not there but reports from Zvishavane say Donald Ngoma tumbled in the box under the challenge of Shabanie defender Rodney Mwale.

It remains debatable, as is expected with penalty decisions the world over, whether Mwale’s challenge and contact warranted the awarding of a penalty to FC Platinum.
But, the mere fact that the incident happened IN THE BOX, there was always a good chance the referee would point to the spot.
And this is the same Ruzive, who has been widely labelled a DeMbare sympathiser after his decision to order a retake of a penalty that Murape, of all players, had missed against Motor Action last season. Washington Arubi converted. I was a witness to the third incident last Sunday too, at the Colliery as Dynamos took on Hwange.

With DeMbare very much on the offensive, Martin Vengesai controlled the ball before slotting in. I was to recall later, that I did not rise to celebrate the goal because there was something fishy about the way he had controlled the ball, as it seemed his hand had played a part.
I looked at the referee, who appeared to signal a goal, before he glanced at his assistant, who had his flag up, and disallowed the effort. After the match, Dynamos fans were very angry, alleging that the referee had received cash from FC Platinum to rob them of three points. But I always argue that a great team can win in the most difficult of situations. If Dynamos had scored a 30-metre drive, would the referee have denied the goal?

If Dynamos had scored four more goals, would the referee have denied them all? If Dynamos had won that match, would anyone be talking about the “cash” from Zvishavane?
I don’t believe FC Platinum have been paying match officials for favours. There is a big difference between a bribed referee and an incompetent one.
Most referees are simply incompetent. It is actually embarrassing for a player of Murape’s standing to come out in the national press mourning about shadowy plots that he is not sure of. It is very embarrassing for Dynamos fans to flood social sites’ pages talking about conspiracy theories.

Does Murape remember that the BancABC Cup semi-final between Bosso and DeMbare at Barbourfields last year was abandoned after Monya was brought down in the box and his team was awarded a penalty?

Bosso fans, perceiving the referee to be pro-Dynamos, rained missiles onto the field leading to the abandonment of the match.
Sadly, I get the sinking feeling that the Dynamos family are raising such ludicrous allegations as we buckle under the frustration of our failure to catch up with FC Platinum.
I am not an FC Platinum fan, and will never be one, but being the objective animal that I am, I can’t help but salute them for the touch of class and professionalism they have brought to Zimbabwe football.

How many clubs hold welcome receptions for players and coaches?
How many clubs run an official shop full of original regalia? How many clubs are leasing stadiums and upgrading them to modern standards? It’s not a secret that FC Platinum have made more foes

than allies since their entry into the big league. And I wouldn’t want to think it’s all because of their money.

Because any fair minded person would see they have done extremely well in their debut season in the PSL. It’s not easy coming from Division One and, 27 matches later, be leading the pack and in sight of the title.

It’s not easy for a club to travel 14 times out of its town and collect 16 points in 12 of those matches.
It’s not easy playing a derby, with four key players suspended, and coming out of it with maximum points, even against a background of a hotly-disputed penalty.
But, the race is still on and my emotional bet, naturally, is on Dynamos finally shaking off the bridesmaid tag and lifting our first title in four years.

But that can only happen if Murape and the other players take out of their minds these wild stories and concentrate on PLAYING FOOTBALL ON THE FIELD.
And if the fans, too, forget about these underworld theories and spur the team to glory. We need to challenge our executive to pay our players all monies due on agreed times and avoid unnecessary distractions like the unfortunate players’ strike on the 18th of October. We need to sit down in meetings, at the training ground and on social sites and discuss why our team has NOT WON or SCORED a single goal in six league matches so far outside Harare this season. We should be challenging Denver Mukamba and Rodreck Mutuma to very disciplined on the field of play.

For the record, Mutuma missed the Hwange match as he had accumulated three yellow cards, all of them unnecessary cautions. Did anyone pause to think that his absence paralysed our attack in Hwange?

It’s things that we have control over that matter and we should not to waste time over some small club far away in the Midlands.
Dynamos is the BIGGEST team in Zimbabwe.
We just need to get nine points from our last three matches and we will champions again.