adminSophie Matimba heard this during the appearance of Nyoni who is facing a charge of criminal defamation, after suspended Zifa Southern Region chairman Gift Banda filed the charges against him last week.
Banda accuses Nyoni of lying that the two met to discuss the issue of match- fixing.
The development brings a new twist to the “Centralgate” saga, which has now spilt to the courts and is likely to see the alleged scandal, where referees are being investigated for corruption, being resolved in the courts.
Banda, his counterpart in the Central Region Patrick Hokonya and suspended vice chairperson of the Zifa referees committee Samukeliso Silengane were fingered by Nyoni that they were behind the match-fixing scandal.
The State, led by Robin Mukura, opened its case by calling two witnesses, Banda and Silengane, to testify in the criminal defamation but turned out to be largely centred on the match-fixing events than the defamation case.
Banda was accusing Nyoni of supplying false information to the press during the period between 30 November and 3 December to the effect that he summoned him to his office to discuss about fixing a match in the Central Region.
The game in contention was played on 8 October between Tripple B and Hardbody.
Nyoni of 3765 Cowdray Park is represented by Brighton Ndove of Marondedze, Mukuku and Ndove Legal Practitioners.
Speaking through his lawyer he said he met Banda in his office over the issue.
He also told the court he met Silengane before the match, who he alleges is the centre of the alleged scandal as she was sent by Banda and Hokonya to arrange for match-fixing and give him money to that effect.
Nyoni went on to say when he visited Banda’s office soon after the matches, Banda reacted strangely about a supposedly recorded disc with the conversation between Nyoni and other people planning to fix the match.
Testifying separately in court, Banda and Silengane said Nyoni had lied both to the police and to the court as he had given conflicting statements.
Banda said as much as it was true that Nyoni was familiar with his office, he had visited three times since 2009 and could not allege he got to know the office when he was summoned for match fixing.
Banda told the court that he only phoned Nyoni after the former referee had been fingered in the scam following a Zifa Board meeting to ask him whether the allegations were true. He denied sending him a text message about the plan to fix some games as alleged by Nyoni.
Banda said circumstances that should prove in court that Nyoni lied are an affidavit which he wrote telling police how he met one Albert Mbuse over the match although his lawyer denied seeing such a document, a referees report compiled by the Zifa vice president on the allegedly fixed match and the newspaper articles
Said Banda: “Why would a person who is not lying give five different statements to different people?”
Silengane told the court that Nyoni only wanted to fix her because she is the one who instituted the investigations after seeing some irregularities in the referees report.
Nyoni had told the court that Silengane was sent to him by Banda and Hokonya to appoint referees for the match and to plan how to fix and eventually allegedly footed expenses for the referees who went to officiate at the match.
However, Silengane denied the allegations saying she had never been involved in match fixing which is why she contacted and used another referee, Mbuse to set a trap on him.
She said Mbuse later revealed that such activity had been happening through Nyoni.
Silengane said the only contact she had with Nyoni was when officials from the Central Region requested referees from the Southern Region because some teams were neck and neck on points and she inquired from Nyoni, the commissioner responsible for appointing referees then.
Silengane said she was also told at that point that it was not the first time the Central Region had requested referees from the Southern Region.
She told the court that Nyoni is the one who appointed the referees to officiate in the Midlands in contrast to his claims that she did.
Silengane testified that she told Hokonya her committee would not be able to fund the referees’ expenses and he understood.
She said she did not know who paid them and only got to know the names of those who were sent to officiate the match after seeing the after-match report, as per the norm according to Zifa rules.
She said that is when she instituted an investigation after seeing unusual features in the report, which usually only states whether transport or allowances were paid without mentioning who paid and in what way.
She denied ever paying the referees who officiated in the match and said she was only phoned by one referee after the match who told her he had not been paid all his transport money.
Banda and Silengane contend that Nyoni, since he claimed to have seen the irregularities in the way the referees for the particular match were paid, should have refused to accept the said money or at least informed his superiors.
The State closed its case and will put Nyoni on his defence tomorrow.
Online Reporter