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Sports Reporter
IT is getting hotter in the Northern Region Soccer League title race but the riveting contest has been blighted by ugly scenes of hooliganism and allegations of underhand manoeuvres by some of the championship chasing sides.
The ugly battle for promotion has sucked in referees, some of whom have been accused of biased officiating.
In the latest of the ugly scenes, Shamva Mine’s home game against MWOS was aborted in the 89th minute after the later had scored a disputed goal.
The Shamva Mine supporters had reportedly been agitated by the biased officiating they had witnessed all afternoon, which were not helped by the referee Never Dombo’s controversial decision to award 12 minutes of his optional time when the teams were still deadlocked 0-0.
Dombo is also the latest official to be accused of biased officiating in favour of log leaders MWOS.
MWOS are engaged in a very tight race for the title in which they are clinging to top spot ahead of second-placed Harare City, flamboyant Scottland and army side Black Rhinos.
That only four points separate MWOS with 54 and fourth-placed Rhinos underscores the fine margins involved in the quest for the sole NRSL ticket to the Premiership.
Shamva Mine are expected to be hauled before the NRSL disciplinary committee this week for the disturbances that led to their match against MWOS ending prematurely.
But sources close to the goings on in the league indicated that the chasing pack are not amused with the manner the referees are now handling their matches.
“There is a worrying trend now involving referees handling matches for the teams in the title race.
“So teams such as Harare City, Rhinos, Scottland want the NRSL and the ZIFA referees’ committee to pay close attention to the way games are being officiated.
“There is a belief that the clubs should allow the best performing team to win promotion and not the team that is capable of manipulating results in their favour,” the sources said.
“It seems that there is a push by the referees to decide the outcome of the championship race which is not professional.”
Should they be awarded the result of the abandoned match, MWOS would have gained three points and 3-0 winning margin than the 1-0 they could have secured had the match not ended prematurely.
On their part Shamva Mine will not only lose points but look set to be fined heavily as the NRSL do not take kindly to crowd trouble and assault on match officials.
The league see-saw race is expected to continue with another round of mid-week games tomorrow and Thursday and spotlight will once again fall on the matches involving MWOS, Harare City, Scottland and Rhinos with three of the quartet set to enjoy home advantage in their respective assignments.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: PAM FC v Karoi United (Muriel Mine), Ngezi Under-19 v Shamva Mine (Baobab), Mwos v Cranborne Bullets (Ngoni), Black Rhinos v Harare City (Commando), Black Mambas v DZ Royal Stars (Mkushi Academy), Golden Eagles v Banket United (Ellis Robins), Agama v Trojan Stars (Pfura).
Thursday: Herentals Under-20 v Chinhoyi Stars (Mkushi Academy), Norton Community v Zambezi (Ngoni), Scottland v CCLEE Mhangura (Rufaro)
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