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Football continues to attract the largest crowds in stadia and via television and it does not look like it will be rivalled by any other discipline in the near future. It’s a game for the rich and poor, men and women, young and old, black or white.
The interest in the local league has also heightened in recent years with the return of a number of companies to partner the Premier Soccer League and national teams. More fans have been lured from the comfort of their homes by curiosity to have a look at teams like FC Platinum, who in their maiden season in the Premiership last year, raised the bar in terms of player welfare and certainly, life for a Premiership footballer is by far better than before at any club because of their influence as teams try to ward them off their dressing rooms.
This is not, however, to vouch that they are saints, no, they have their own shortcomings like human beings but generally, they have had a positive impact in the league. More and more fans have been forced out of their homes by the resurgence of Highlanders, who under Zambia’s Kelvin Kaindu, fans call him “KK” by the way, have been unbeaten since the beginning of the season and they get to the half way mark tomorrow in a tricky tie against Dynamos at Barbourfields.
The setting for the game could not have been more ideal than at this stage, with Dynamos having won their recent league games and eager to erase sad memories of crashing out of continental football with a fine run in the domestic league. And there is no better setting for that than pleasing your fans with a win over high riding old enemies, Highlanders in their own backyard.
Fans and other clubs might have been making noise over why the match was postponed time and again by the league but we believe PSL CEO Kennedy Ndebele was right. Despite the league resolution that any postponed match should be played during the week, it does not make sense to fixture the biggest match in the country, the second biggest match in Africa south of the Sahara during the week when people are busy fending for their families.
In any part of the world where electricity is not an issue and matches can be played under flood lights, then it can be played at any day, but not in Zimbabwe where matches are restricted to day light. Moreover, all football stakeholders stand to benefit from the bumper crowd expected at Barbourfields tomorrow. The match features the defending champions, who happen to be Dynamos and the only team unbeaten in the league thus far, which happens to be Highlanders. It’s bound to be full of thrills and certainly, it was worth the wait.
The only thing that could spoil the long wait, however, is suspect match officiating and hooliganism. We are not experts in match officiating and we will leave the match officials to do their job without any undue pressure, but the challenge comes to people who own the game—fans. These people will not allow match officials to go away with what they believe would be a foul against their team, and Highlanders fans actually believe match officials, especially those who are based in Bulawayo, are out to “prove themselves in a wrong way with crucial calls against Highlanders.”
That is the talk in pubs, kombis and terraces. Nonetheless, that is the nature of the game and like Highlanders chairman Peter Dube and his coach, Kaindu have said, fans must leave players to fight it out on the field of play. There is no need for fans to commit fouls on the terraces by throwing missiles onto the field of play as that endangers the lives of players and other fans. In fact, hooliganism is criminal the world over. We can take a look at a brief history of hooliganism.
Traditionally, football hooliganism has been seen as first occurring in the late 1960s in the UK, and peaking in the late 1970s and mid 1980s before calming down following the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters.
However, incidents of crowd disorder at football matches have been recorded as early as the 19th Century. During a match in 1846 in Derby the riot act was read and two troops of dragoons called in to deal with a disorderly crowd, while pitch invasions became increasingly common from the 1880s onwards.
What each fan must always remember is that a single missile thrown into the field of play has the potential to cause destruction of the whole city and we can wake up the next morning with cars and buildings burnt, people injured and some even dead. We have witnessed a few occasions at Barbourfields this season, though at a small scale, of hooliganism rearing its ugly head and we join the Highlanders and PSL leadership in urging people to shun violence and take whatever decision by match officials, be it in favour or against their team in the spirit of sport.
Such actions have serious implications on the team as it can be fined or suspended from the league and if you are a true football fan, why do you have to vouch for your team to be fined or suspended by throwing stones, oranges and bottles into the pitch? By throwing missiles into the pitch, you are actually sabotaging the players whom you claim to love and support, because club money meant to pay them allowances and salaries will go to the league as fines and the police for beefing up security in the stadium.
Dynamos have already felt the impact of bad behaviour by fans. After winning a match against Hwange 4-2, the score line was nullified and a replay ordered at a neutral venue following the man handling of Hwange coaches by Dynamos marshals in Harare. In addition, they were fined $2 000.
Caps United have also felt how severe crowd trouble can be, after being fined $6 000 for the chaos that forced the abandonment of their league tie against Chicken Inn. They were trailing 2-0 with the match already at stoppage time in the second half, but the league disciplinary committee gave the match to Chicken Inn on a three-zero score line. So whichever way you look at it, disrupting play has negative results.
Moreover, we implore match officials to be at their best and wish to bring it to their attention that merely trying is not enough. We know they are human and can make mistakes, but they should prove to the fans and players that they are in control of the game, fair and are not out to decide the outcome of the match, a responsibility which lies squarely on players and their coaches.
Bosso chairman, Dube this week called on all fans, whether black and white or blue and white, who will attend tomorrow’s big match to make the game more enjoyable by practising self-restraint.
The match, the only Premiership match slated for this weekend, is expected to bring Bulawayo to a standstill with fans from all corners of the country flocking to Emagumeni. Dube called for calm from both sets of fans and urged soccer lovers to take the referee’s decision in the true spirit of sportsmanship. He admitted that some calls had of late gone against his team but said that was no passport for fans to behave in a wild manner.
“Fair Play is what we subscribe to as an institution. We call on our supporters to practise self-restraint and not to take matters into their own hands. Admittedly there have been some calls in some of our matches that have gone against us, let us respect the referee’s decision and let the boys do their job on the field.
“We have come so close . . . we keep on getting closer to the title. Let us not lose it for ourselves off the pitch through hooliganism. The soccer laws are clear about untoward behaviour off the field by fans. May our true Highlanders sons and daughters desist from throwing missiles when calls don’t go our way,” said Dube.
He reiterated that hooliganism could only add to the woes of the cash-strapped club as they would remain poorer when fined for such offences.
Even fans interviewed during the week also echoed Dube sentiments. Mpiyabo Ncube, a diehard Highlanders supporter who was confident that his team would grab maximum points said:
“It’s a tricky game but I think our boys can stand the heat. We are definitely going to win the game. We don’t care that Dynamos are coming from Africa, I believe KK (Kelvin Kaindu) has prepared the team well. The game by the look of things is going to be interesting but my fear is that of late it’s as if referees have scores to settle with Highlanders and that has not gone well with us. We are not asking for the referees to favour us but what we want is to have a competitive referee who will apply the laws of the game as they are. Believe you me, if the referees are fair, you will realise that people accept the result no matter how bad it might be,” said Ncube.
In tomorrow’s game where stakes are high, we expect heroes to be born and we hope it will be so. To borrow from Kaindu, we hope “it shall be well.” May the spirit of fair play enter the hearts of all the fans, players, coaches and match officials as they enter Barbourfields tomorrow.
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