Simba Bhora cry foul

Sports Reporter

SIMBA BHORA are an unhappy camp.

The ZIFA Northern Region Division One championship leaders believe the match officials, who handled their top-of-the-table showdown with Golden Eagles, on Tuesday afternoon, were BIASED against them.

The Shamva miners feel the majority of the major calls, during the match, which drew a huge crowd at Ellis Robins School in Harare, went against them.

A header by leading scorer, Tinashe Balakasi, from a free-kick, found the target in the second half only for the nearside assistant referee to disallow it for offside.

The visitors had an appeal for a penalty, in the first half, when the hosts’ ‘keeper appeared to crash into an opponent, in the danger zone, but the referee waved play on.

There had been tension, ahead of the match, amid reports that the match officials had been changed, at the last minute, and a new set of officials appointed for the big game.

However, the NRSL leadership dismissed the reports.

They claimed two sets of officials had been appointed, ahead of the match, and those who were taking charge were only advised on the day of the match.

The measures were meant to ensure that there would be no underhand moves to try and influence the match officials.

However, Simba Bhora owner, Simba “Buju” Ndoro, said they were not happy with the officiating on Tuesday.

“We are writing to the league leaders to express our disappointment with the way the referees handled our match,” he said.

“We expected better officiating, where the rules would be applied on a neutral basis, without any favour.

“We had made it clear to the league officials that should we feel that the stage had been set, where we believed everything was being done to ensure that we don’t win, we would not be part of the circus.

“We said that we would rather donate the points to the opposition and, if need be, we would also end our campaign to try and win the league and get a place in the PSL next season.

“There is no reason to waste huge financial resources in preparing the team when the games can be decided outside the playing field.”

He said they expected better officiating on Tuesday.

“We were told that better and more experienced referees had been appointed for the match because of its status, and we understood that,” he said.

“But, when you look at some of the decisions, and the way the referees handled the game, you ask yourself what was so good about them?

“We didn’t feel that we were being protected and being given a fair chance to try and win the game and that was quite disappointing.”