adminUNCOUTH Masvingo United players turned Vengere Stadium in Rusape into a hard-hat area when they allegedly assaulted the referee together with Dongo Sawmills players on Sunday in an outrageous protest against their opponents’ second goal.
The match official from Marondera, Moreblessing Mazaka, was forced to call off the match after 73 minutes of play as the volatile situation did not guarantee safety for players, match officials as well as supporters.
Tempers were simmering in the Masvingo United camp even before the match as the referee’s report indicates that they even verbally abused the match commissioner just before kick-off.
Both teams were deadlocked one-all at half time, but hell broke loose when Dongo Sawmills scored their second goal and for reasons best known by the former Premiership side players, the goal should not have been allowed to stand.
Although neutrals interviewed by this newspaper were of the opinion that Dongo Sawmills scored a genuine goal, Masvingo United players would have none of it.
An eight-minute-long video footage of the melee, which this newspaper is in possession of, clearly shows Masvingo United players having a torrid time to restrain their colleagues from assaulting the match officials.
Led by Tichaona Joro Zvandasara, who bolted from the blue to head- butt the referee, Masvingo United players who include Vengai Sanamai and Tatenda Chihava, indiscriminately assaulted the referee before they descended on a Dongo Sawmills player. Zifa Eastern Region secretary Simba Wisdom, who witnessed the drama, lamented on the unruly behaviour by Masvingo United players and expressed hope that the league authorities will take appropriate action.
“It is sad that we still have players that can have the audacity to physically attack referees and get away with it. I think we really need to set a precedent so that all the other players from other teams will learn from this incident, that we do not condone attacking referees.
“If we do not take stern action we risk having more of similar incidents. In the same breadth, we also want to advise clubs to provide enough security at match venues. Some of the skirmishes we witnessed on Sunday could have been avoided if we had had enough security,” he said.
The Zifa Eastern Region administration was scheduled to deliberate on the issue this week after summoning the interested parties to a hearing.
It is understood that the Zifa Eastern Region secretary (who resides in Mutare) and their general manager Tedious Machawira (who resides in Masvingo) have recused themselves from the hearing proceedings.
Masvingo United and Dongo Sawmills, who were set to clash once again this weekend in a back-to-back mid-season reverse fixture, will have to wait a little bit longer before they face off again as the Zifa Eastern Region administration is understood to have ordered for a postponement of the tie to allow tempers to settle.
Matchday 15 results:
City Rovers 1, Black Eagles 0; Gaza Gunners 0, Tenax 0; Surrey 0, Mutare Polytechnic 0; ZRP Masvingo 2, FC Three Leaves 1; Dongo 2, Masvingo United 1 (match abandoned); Eastern Stars 3, Mwenezana 1:
Matchday 16 Fixtures:
Mutare City Rovers v Black Eagles; Ruwa United v Gutu; Renco Mine v Chivhu Stars; Tenax v Gaza Gunners; Mutare Polytechnic v Surrey Abattoirs; Mwenezana v Eastern Stars; FC Three Leaves v ZRP Masvingo; Masvingo United v Dongo Sawmills (TBA).
Online Reporter