adminBut for all the abuse that referee Bekezela Makeka took from those Dynamos fans in that parking lot at Rufaro that evening, which was probably a fair reflection of the insults he was going to take from millions of DeMbare fans in the days that followed for his famous 16 minutes of time added on, the harsh reality of this game is that the referee was ABSOLUTELY spot on that day
LONG after the game between Dynamos and Shabanie had ended at Rufaro on Wednesday, someone distributed a false message to scores of people milling outside the stadium that triggered a wave of impromptu wild celebrations.
A man who had been listening to a car radio, in the company of a good number of people, following the extended coverage of the domestic Premiership matches that day which had long spilled past 5pm because of events at Barbourfields, suddenly burst into celebrations.
Word quickly spread from that small group, converged at their car, to pockets of people milling outside the stadium, some of them still in a daze, having been shaken by the shock of the result at Rufaro that afternoon, and the pain inflicted by the drama that had unfolded at Barbourfields.
Triangle had equalised, with the very last kick of the game, was the message and, as false as it was, it found reception in the ears of scores of DeMbare fans and as it warmed souls that had been shattered by a cruel twist of results that had gone against them, it released an explosion of joy that swept through that parking lot at Rufaro outside the VIP Enclosure.
To some of these people, the relief was generated by a celebration of poetic justice, which they felt had been done at Barbourfields, where they believed the forces of darkness had combined to inflict gross injustice on the helpless but courageous visitors from Triangle.
To others, in that parking lot, the relief was generated by the false belief that their team had retained its position at the top of the Premiership table, despite the stench of their rotten performance that still filled the air at the old stadium that afternoon and it felt good that they were still at the top on a day when their show had been awful.
In that moment of undiluted joy, even against a background of the artificial nature of that relief given that the news that had generated that happiness was not a gospel of truth as Bosso had held on to win that match 1-0, football demonstrated why it’s such a powerful sport and why it touches so many lives in a way that no other sporting discipline can do.
I will leave you to imagine the disappointment that followed the arrival of reality that Bosso had held on to their last-gasp goal at Barbourfields and had not only won that match but leapfrogged them into first place in the championship race, with a point to show for the gap between them and the rest of the Premiership, but with their destiny in their hands.
A Bosso victory on Wednesday, against the background of their team’s depressing draw the same day, was always going to hurt them but their pain was amplified by what they considered to be an uneven playing field where dark forces had played a huge part, in deciding a crucial programme of fixtures, and their cruel hand had made all the difference.
In their moment of deflation, not made any easier by a choking feeling of helplessness, they cursed Zifa, whom they feel are appointing referees who have an agenda to promote the interests of certain teams in this race, and they appeared to have a dossier that gave credibility in their conspiracy theory.
They cursed the PSL leadership, because they felt they were partners in this with their principals in the mother body, they cursed the referees, including the one who had handled their game against Shabanie, they said they were victims because they didn’t have any of their own among the leaders of either the PSL or Zifa, while their rivals have former leaders in key positions everywhere.
And, they remembered Morrison Sifelani, and cursed fate that took away his life.
The shocking performance of their team that afternoon was conveniently forgotten, to them it was a miracle that their men were still in this race given the hurdles and landmines that have been placed in their way all season, and that they found an alibi that their pathetic show that day was because of their weakened state and they said Oscar Machapa and Murape Murape had been targeted, with yellow cards they didn’t deserve, to enforce their suspension from this game.
That their only player, who was sitting on two yellow cards in that game against Shabanie, wingback Ocean Mushure, was shown another yellow for diving, the same reason that had been used by the referee in that Triangle game to punish Murape to take his yellow cards’ tally to three, only made them feel convinced that the system was working in full throttle against them and, as they had expected, Ocean would be suspended from tomorrow’s tie against Chicken Inn.
Why Referee Bekezela Makeka Was Right
But for all the abuse that Bekezela Makeka took from those Dynamos fans in that parking lot at Rufaro that evening, which was probably a fair reflection of the insults he was going to take from millions of DeMbare fans in the days that followed for his famous 16 minutes of time added on, the harsh reality of this game is that the referee was ABSOLUTELY spot on that day.
Triangle paid a price for their gamesmanship and by delaying this and that, in their fight against what they perceived to be injustice that was being inflicted upon them by the match officials that day, they played right in the hands of the referee that is, if we are to assume, as the guys from the Lowveld and all those who stood to benefit from their cause want us to believe, that the referee was on a mission to ensure that Bosso win that match.
By turning themselves into rampaging bulls, loaded with testosterone, ready to use force to make their point, Triangle turned themselves into Wild West outlaws that were not full value for the tears that have been shed on their behalf in the past two days and fate, as it always does when you tempt it so much, hit them where it hurt most in that encounter.
They were anti-football when they came to Rufaro for their date against Dynamos, feigning injury at any given moment in the second half and virtually holding the game to a standstill, but that there wasn’t 16 minutes of time added on in that match should not take away the fact that the visitors were, at best, a mockery to this game and everything it represents and, at worst, enemies of football.
Their negativity, which is surprising given the quality that is in their team and the fact that when they want to really play the game they can turn into a handful for anyone in this league, had gone on for too long and it was bound to catch up with them and, that afternoon at Barbourfields, it certainly did.
We cannot allow players and their technical staff to become angels of lawlessness in this game, the fact that referees will always get it wrong, either by design or default, is something that we have to accept and if an entire World Cup in 1986 in Mexico could be defined by a goal that was scored by a hand, from a team that eventually became champions, then who are we to say that match officials can’t get it wrong?
And, on the occasions that they do, we give the players and their coaches the freedom to take them head on, as if they have been given the same powers by those who control this game, and the rebellion of the Triangle players at Barbourfields on Wednesday was amateurish and played into the hands of the referee, that is, if we can give them the benefit of doubt that Makeka was on a mission to ensure that Bosso wins.
When you bully a referee, who is a human being, you are inviting trouble and Makeka was within his rights, if he felt that the match had lost 16 minutes during the starts and stops that characterised the mayhem once the confrontations started, to play the 16 minutes and not even Fifa can find any fault in that time-keeping because they empowered the referee to do just that.
There is no limit to what can be added as optional time, as long as it can be justified, and in the English lower division, a game between Brentford and Bristol City had 23 minutes of time added on, in the first half alone, because of stoppages caused by injuries, while Manchester City and Swansea played 13 minutes of time added on in the English Premiership last October.
Makeka sent off Limited Chikafa and his goalkeeper, both for time wasting, and if we are going to go out looking for faults, in every yellow card that every referee brandishes, then we will find that about 90 percent of the decisions were questionable.
Makeka would have been at fault if he did things that he was not empowered to do, like tackling a Triangle forward when he was clear on goal and robbing him of a chance to score, disallowing three or four goals scored by the visitors, allowing Bosso to play with 12 or 13 men or allowing Ozias Zibande to score an own goal and then credit that one to Highlanders.
The fact that this game was still goalless by the 79th minute, when all hell started breaking loose, means that the referee couldn’t be held at fault for aiding Bosso’s cause, and paralysing Triangle in the process, and that the visitors only succumbed to a goal a minute before the end of those 16 minutes of time added on, also shows that if they had applied themselves better, they would not have blamed him for this loss.
Why Referee Bekezela Makeka Is Wrong
The problem with Makeka is that the events of Wednesday, which even for all their controversy were not wrong, cannot be viewed in isolation and, when one brings in what he has also done in the past, which has also played a hand in aiding Bosso’s cause, a picture emerges that shows he is not really drenched in the innocence that his bald head and villager looks appear to portray.
When you consider that this is the same referee, who was the fourth official who stormed onto the pitch at Barbourfields and influenced referee Philani Ncube to change his decision, to award a penalty to CAPS United in their match against Highlanders, then question marks emerge about the innocence of his actions in that match at the same stadium on Wednesday.
When one referee becomes the common denominator, in TWO MASSIVE decisions this season, 16 minutes of time added on and a penalty call that was reversed, doing it in the same stadium and, on both occasions the beneficiaries being the same home team, he loses whatever alibi he might have been waving around to those who are pointing fingers at him.
When one referee turns one stadium in the theatre where, in two huge games, he conducts the orchestra that plays the signature tune of the home side, as Bekezela has done at Barbourfields this season, it’s difficult for him to find the coat of protection, against charges from those who claim he became a player for the hosts, in those defining games.
For all the stupidity that Triangle exhibited, in taking the referee head on this Wednesday, what can’t be disguised is the fact that, as humans, they can only take injustice so far and it’s brutally unfair for them to go to Barbourfields in the Mbada Diamonds Cup and a last-gasp penalty call, for a clear hand ball, is ignored and, on their return, they battle the forces of 16 minutes, two men down and a coach in the stands.
The other day Dynamos officials said they would not play the Battle of Zimbabwe if Hwange referee, Hardlife Ndazi, was given the job to handle that big game against Highlanders and it caused quite a storm in the media in the City of Kings.
And what happens next – Ndazi is given the job to handle Bosso’s next big match, the Mbada Diamonds cup semi-final against Harare City at Mandava, and he gives the Bulawayo giants a penalty, for their equaliser, which angers Bigboy Mawiwi and his players.
It’s those little things, when you combine them, which produce a picture that makes some people believe that there was more to Makeka’s actions, at Barbourfields on Wednesday, which spilled beyond the acceptable borders of Fair Play.
What is Good For The Goose Should Be Good For The Gander
Norman Matemera stood accused of adding more minutes to the allotted optional time when Partson Jaure scored an equaliser, six minutes into time added on, after the fourth official had indicated just four minutes in that Battle of Zimbabwe at Rufaro.
There was a ballistic response, including from the Zifa Referees’ Committee, about Matemera’s conduct in that match and the referee found himself being frozen from the domestic scene, with no appointments for matches coming his way, because of what happened that day.
Interestingly, the same people who questioned Matemera’s time-keeping that day appear to find a lot of reason in Makeka’s time-keeping at Barbourfields on Wednesday and where the response was that non-performing refs would be kicked out, when it was about Norman, now the response was that the referee has the right to make up for lost time because it was now Bekezela.
It’s these things that keep pegging us backwards and we can’t question those who see faults in the decision to sanction Jaure against a background of those who escaped without censure when the rebellion was against Matemera at Rufaro.
To me Matemera was right, to make up for lost time at Rufaro, and Bekezela was right to make up for lost time at Barbourfields, the only problem is that we have some football leaders who see only fault lines when it comes to Matemera but turn a blind eye when it comes to Bekezela.
As long as that continues to happen, there will be a constituency in our football that will feel that it is a victim of gross injustice and when 16 minutes are added at Barbourfields, even if it’s the right decision, it’s always going to be difficult for the fairness of such a decision to be appreciated.
May the best team be crowned champions but I guess there are a lot of people who, given everything that has happened this season, will be delighted if Harare City win the title.
To God Be The Glory
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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