adminAugustine Hwata and Ellina Mhlanga
SCORES of local and visiting Zambian fans were left stranded yesterday after the African Nations Championships qualifier between the Warriors and Chipolopolo was called off following a no show by the referees. African football was thrown back into the Stone Age era when the CHAN clash between the old enemies failed to take place but not before some of the fans had bought tickets for the match.
The match had earlier on been rescheduled for a late kick-off before it was eventually cancelled when a number of fans had already made their way into the stadium while scores were still milling around the match venue.
In what could be the first time that a scheduled international fixture has failed to be played in Zimbabwe, indications are that the match officials from Cameroon twice missed their connecting flights from Nairobi.
Last week, Zifa wrote to the Confederation of African Football, expressing their uneasiness at having the quartet of referee Aurelien Juenkou , Fuanta Joseph Lambi, Elvis Noupue and Christopher Nde to handle the CHAN match.
Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze had expressed concern that the move to bring match officials from far afield would worsen their financial plight.
The association was forced to refund the more than 400 Zambian fans who had bought US$10 tickets and advised the local fans to hold onto their “full tickets’’ for use during the rescheduled match next Sunday.
Some of the fans who had still not paid had remained outside Rufaro hoping to get news that the referees had finally arrived.
But that was not to be as Zifa officials at the stadium used the public address system at Rufaro to inform the fans about the cancellation of the game.
The situation threatened to turn ugly at some point when some fans who had found their way into the stadium without paying demanded to be issued with tickets or refunds but police were closely monitoring proceedings.
Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela said the fans would have to use the same entry points they had bought their tickets for the rescheduled match.
“The fans will use the same tickets for the next match and they should use the same gates that they had used. However, it’s unfortunate there is nothing we can do to those who will have lost their tickets,” said Gwesela. Last week, a fire gutted Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi but still the Kenyan Airways flight arrived yesterday minus the match officials from Cameroon.
A number of fans who had turned up at Rufaro and were locked up were naturally disappointed by the sudden turn of events.
But there was no doubting that the fans felt short-changed.
Gift Mupanduki who came from Budiriro said he was left with no option but to go back home since the game was off.
“I just have to get back home. There is no option and I feel sorry for those who have paid their money. Anywhere, we will return on Sunday and support the team but I think there is a big problem at Zifa and Caf,” said Mupanduki.
Garikai Chikukwa from Chitungwiza felt Zifa and FAZ should have demoted the match to a friendly for the sake of the fans.
“I have never heard that a international match is cancelled because they are no referees when both teams are ready. I think now Zifa should consider turning this match into a friendly and ask local officials to handle it,” said Chikukwa.
Greenmore Bepa said it was disheartening that the Warriors brand had once again been tainted at a time the team was supposed to be moving forward.
“I had come with my friends to see the team but this is pathetic. The Warriors did not play well against Mauritius and we had hoped for something refreshing against Zambia,” he said.
A die-hard Dynamos fan Taurai Makotoza from Sunningdale thought that cancellation of the match was a big joke in bad taste.
“It’s hard to believe but we will wait and maybe Zifa will call a practice match with Zambia,” he said.
Another fan Mlondozi Ndlovu from Glen View said Zifa should have communicated well in advance that they were getting challenges over the match officials to the fans.
“It’s very unfortunate but I think Zifa should have communicated that in the newspapers and radio so that we could have stayed at home,” he said.
Former Shooting Stars medic Enos Mufushwa, now based in Lusaka said he felt sorry for the Zambians who came in their convoys for the game.
“We were at Chirundu border by six in the morning and its disappointing to travel all the way for nothing. Maybe I will go and see my relatives over the holiday but I don’t know how the Zambians will take this,” Mufushwa said.
The Zambians fans whose noise easily grabbed attention especially on the corner of Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere way where they had converged said they had arrived in Harare in high spirits after the Zambian government had hired buses for them. But when news filtered that the match would not go ahead,their spirits were dampened with some indicating that they would not be able to travel back to Harare for the rescheduled game.
The Zambians expressed their anger with Mwendalubi Kayuma saying the move to postpone the match was a sad development as it will be difficult for some of them to come back next week.
“We are all saddened, first we had to leave everything we were doing back home to watch this game. A lot of people are clearly disappointed.
“If we are supposed to come back it’s another expense on us, we already have the tickets,” said Mwendalubi.
Another disappointed supporter Nash Mainza said they think there is more to the issue than what they are being told and they feel cheated by Zifa.
“People had already paid for accommodation planning to leave tomorrow and now we are being told that we have to go today. We don’t know if people will be refunded and we are very disappointed.
“We were told that tomorrow (today) it’s a holiday, so I think if it was an issue of officials we could have the match tomorrow and we feel they are not telling the truth. We are sister countries and people travelling and spending money for nothing that’s a problem and we feel they are cheating us.
“It’s difficult for them to refund us especially the money we were using as individuals because we do not have receipts. The best they can do is to refund us the money for the tickets, we can buy small things on our way home,” said Mainza.
Chipolopolo Soccer Fans Association chairman, Yotham Mwanza said they hope Zifa will resolve the issue as soon as possible.
“First and foremost we are very disappointed coming all the way from Zambia.We are here courtesy of the government that ferried us to Harare.
We had a number of 400 plus people only to find out that the game is not on. We hope things will be resolved quickly, we urge Zifa to put their house in order to be able to organise an international match, they knew about the game a long time ago.
“We are going back home disappointed, we don’t know if we will be able to come back,” said Mwanza.
Bertha Mulenga said they are not happy about the decision to cancel the game as they were geared to give morale support to their team.
“We are not happy because we were geared the game is today, unfortunately it was postponed. We are disappointed with you Zimbabweans. Some of us were supposed to be at work today but because of the love of football we came here.
“As supporters we are supposed to come back, we are coming back to support our team,” said Mulenga.
Online Reporter