dyton mupawaenda
Sports Reporter
SCOTTLAND have dropped a bombshell and revealed they could pull out of the ZIFA Northern Region Division One League in protest over what they consider to be some dark arts in the second-tier league.
The Mabvuku side, who were only formed at the beginning of the year and have surpassed expectations to challenge for the title, settled for a 1-1 draw in an explosive showdown against MWOS at Ngoni Stadium on Saturday.
The high-profile game attracted a full house of more than 5 000 fans who included former ZIFA boss Philip Chiyangwa and former PSL chairman Twine Phiri.
Many leading Harare socialites also made the trip to Norton while the visiting side were backed by a big contingent of supporters who were ferried by more than a dozen buses.
Scottland appeared set for a stunning victory, thanks to Denver Mukamba’s goal, but the hosts snatched a last-gasp goal to steal a big point for themselves.
The result meant that Scottland have now taken eight out of a possible 12 points against their major rivals MWOS and Black Rhinos in their head-to-head battles.
However, while many clubs would have celebrated such a scenario, Scottland are crying foul and there was chaos at the end of the game.
Club owner, Scott Sakupwanya, was angered by events leading to the hosts equaliser and stormed onto the pitch at the final whistle.
He accused MWOS coach Lloyd Mutasa of employing dark arts, which distracted his goalkeeper, in the build up to the equaliser.
A ball boy was sent by the MWOS bench to pour some liquid across the Scottland goal and shortly afterwards the hosts got their equaliser.
“Our goalkeeper was distracted by the deliberate actions of the MWOS coach and we are surprised that in football we still allow outside interference to play a role in the outcome of matches.
“This was a big game and every effort should have been made to ensure that the outcome would be determined by the action on the pitch.
“We have got worse results than this one this season when we lost some games but we accepted the result and didn’t complain at all.
“We are complaining now because we feel that it’s not right for a player to be distracted by outside forces like what happened to our goalkeeper.”
He added:
“The MWOS coach sent the ball boy to distract our goalkeeper by pouring whatever liquid they poured at our goal and all the other stuff they splashed there.
“This was a crucial stage of the game and we are unhappy that there was no protection against our ‘keeper and this was a deliberate act by the coach of our opponents.
“We are not happy at all and we feel that if this is the way things are done in the league then it isn’t a place for us to continue playing there because we are investing a lot in our team and our community.
“All we want is fairness and if there is no fairness then there is no reason for us to remain part of the league.”
Mutasa has been in the thick of things in recent weeks as the race for the league championship enters a crucial phase.
The former Dynamos coach was punched by his Black Rhinos counterpart, Nesbert “Yabo”
Saruchera, at the Heart Stadium two weeks ago in the chaos that erupted after the army side were denied a penalty.
Online Reporter