Refs, clubs clash looms over members’ safety

The referees’ representative body, Zimbabwe Soccer Referees Association (ZSRA), said they have already engaged the Premier Soccer League with a view of coming up with a solution on the safety of referees as they now feared for their lives.
“We had a member attacked by thugs last year on his way home after a match and as such we are saying our members should be catered for in terms of accommodation or be given money to hire cabs especially for the PSL and Division One games which end after 5pm and require long travelling,” said the association chairman Ngoni Boyd yesterday.
He said they zeroed in on the two leagues as they involve a lot of travelling for the referees.
“Our position has already been tabled before the relevant bodies and negotiations are going ahead but I must stress that the issue of safety for our members is now of top priority,” said Boyd.
With his secretary-general, Batsirayi Muchenje, having said before that referees were looking at increasing their match fees, it means clubs will now have to dig even deeper into their pockets.
Unless there is assured sponsorship for the referees, the move to have their accommodation taken care of by clubs will further strain teams which struggled to pay last season.
Last year Premiership referees were getting $120 and $100 for the centreman and assistant respectively with Division One clubs paying $45 for the referee and five dollars less for his assistants.
Some observers say the low figures paid to the referees could be contributing to the rise in corruption cases within the refereeing profession with some officials literally engaging in unorthodox ways.
The “beg me” attitude is reportedly prevalent in Bulawayo with some officials now seen as demi-gods in the profession, employing bullying tactics.
The situation has seen Bulawayo failing to have a Fifa panel referee for the second year in a row save for Rudo Nanhanga who is an assistant on the Fifa panel but is continuously frustrated and rarely gets game time.