THEN, FC PLATINUM ISSUED A STATEMENT

Sharuko On Saturday

FC Platinum’s statement, in the wake of the controversy torched by their heaviest defeat at Mandava in history, was carefully worded — and for the right reasons too.

The four-time champions said they were aware of the storm which was surrounding their “senior team players as well as unsubstantiated allegations made against them”.

They said their operations were guided by integrity and they were an entity which operated strictly under the “relevant laws, regulations and ethical standards”.

They said they will review all options available to address this issue appropriately.

FC Platinum then urged the “public and the media to refrain from spreading unverified information that can cause unwarranted reputational damage”.

This is a club whose foundation is in the corporate sector.

They are not a Mickey Mouse club and their ties to Mimosa remain strong and, even though FC Platinum operate largely as an independent entity now, they still have deep connections to the firm which gave birth to this club.

That is why we see a number of Mimosa buses ferrying FC Platinum fans to away matches every time the club are on the road.

Against that background, it is important that FC Platinum project a public image that their operations are in sync with what is expected from a club which has very strong ties to such a major company.

That is why the FC Platinum statement had to be worded correctly, every word had to be the right one, every paragraph had to be the correct one and the message had to be very clear.

They said they were doing their internal investigations.

But, at the same time, they also talked about “unsubstantiated allegations” being made against their play-ers and pleaded for these players to be spared from further “reputational damage”.

They knew the name of their goalkeeper David Bizabani was trending on social media where he was being accused of having been “bought” to help Scottland win that top-of-the-table clash.

Bizabani is being accused of “deliberately” passing the ball to Tymon Machope for the striker to race clear towards an unguarded goal and score the decisive third goal of the showdown.

Some are also even saying that his tackle on Walter Musona, which led to the penalty from which the visitors struck their opener, was also a “deliberate” act.

The challenge for the FC Platinum bosses is how do they accept that Bizabani’s tackle on Musona was “deliberate” and a similar tackle by the same ‘keeper on Harrison Masina, in their previous game against GreenFuel, wasn’t a “deliberate” act?

Does it become a “deliberate” act when it’s against their interests, as was the case at Mandava on Saturday, and ceases to be a “deliberate” act when it’s in favour of their interests, as was the case at GreenFuel the previous weekend?

It even gets trickier for them because that foul at the GreenFuel Arena should ordinarily have been punished by a penalty, which probably would have given the hosts the lead, and there was supposed to be a yellow card for their ‘keeper.

Well, referee Rusunuguko Mutero somehow did not punish the ‘keeper for that foul by giving GreenFuel a penalty.

FC Platinum won that match 1-0 and Mutero will probably be suspended by ZIFA for his questionable officiating that day.

If that happens, he would be the second referee this season to be suspended for questionable officiating in a game in which FC Platinum ended up as the winners.

Last month, Quedisani Dirwai was handed a six-match suspension for questionable officiating in the game between FC Platinum and Dynamos at Mandava which, if you ask Saul Chaminuka today, he will tell you was the match which led to him being fired.

The only difference is that Dirwai gave FC Platinum a questionable penalty, which led to the abandonment of that high-profile game, while Mutero didn’t give a clear-cut penalty against the four-time champions.

All these factors had to be taken into account by the FC Platinum bosses when they were coming up with their statement amid the social media tsunami.

MANDAVA HAS AN INTERESTING HISTORY

The FC Platinum bosses know that their club have had a fair share of controversy over the years.

They know that Mandava is the only stadium where the Big Three — Dynamos, CAPS United and Highlanders — have had matches abandoned because of questionable refereeing.

They know that in June they got what some claim to be a ghost penalty and it led to the abandonment of their match against Dynamos and the six-match suspension of referee Dirwai. The ZIFA statement, which announced the referee’s suspension, said the integrity of the game had been challenged by Dirwai’s performance that afternoon.

“ZIFA reiterates its commitment to maintaining the integrity of the game and ensuring that all match officials operate within the framework of professionalism, accountability and consistency,” read the statement.

The question, therefore, would be: If Dirwai’s performance in that game did not meet the standards expected to uphold the integrity of the game, was there anyone or anything, which influenced that performance? The aggrieved DeMbare camp would probably point a finger at those who benefited from his questionable decision to award them a last-gasp penalty. But, we know that is what comes from being aggrieved.

And, the reality might be that FC Platinum didn’t do anything at all to try and influence Dirwai to give them a penalty, save for the appeals from their players on the field, their coaches on the bench and their fans in the stadium.

Maybe, we can just have a look at comments from coaches, over the past dozen years, who have felt that they were not given a fair deal in matches at Mandava.

SAUL CHAMINUKA AFTER THE ABANDONED GAME IN JUNE

“Referees are cheating and we cannot continue playing week after week when they keep giving away matches like this. They are not fair at all. Coaches are sick because of how they handle matches yet they face no consequences. If that penalty had been taken, they would have escaped scrutiny. Let’s see what the match commissioner says about this game.”

ANTIPAS AFTER MOTOR ACTION’S LOSS AT MANDAVA IN 2013

“It was not a goal because if you look at it, the far side assistant did not signal for a goal. If football is played like this, I do not think it is worth it to continue playing.”

DINYERO AFTER HARARE CITY LOST AT MANDAVA IN THE CHIBUKU CUP FINAL

“This is daylight robbery. To tell the honest truth, we were robbed. The referees are killing the game. The fourth official had indicated four minutes of injury time and when the four minutes elapsed, Platinum we handed a free-kick from nowhere and they equalised. We could have won the game but my players were dejected. Their spirit was killed.”

Let’s put this into context.

Harare City were seconds away from glory in November 2014 when they led 1-0 in the Chibuku Cup final only for a disputed last-gasp equaliser to deny them and hand FC Platinum a lifeline.

The visitors claimed the ball didn’t cross the line in a goalmouth scramble but referee Norman Matemera gave the goal.

FC Platinum won the penalty shoot-out 3-1 to take the trophy.

Harare City were aggrieved on two fronts — they claimed time was already up and the ball didn’t cross the line.

Dinyero refused to collect his losers’ medal.

In April 2022, midfielder Innocent Mucheneka converted a late controversial penalty to end FC Platinum’s win-less streak as they edged WhaWha 1-0 at Mandava in a league match. WhaWha finished bottom of the table that season while FC Platinum were crowned champions.

After the match, WhaWha coach Luke Petros said: “I don’t have much to say but this kills the spirit of the game. I don’t have the power to question the decision making and referees.”

In April last year, chaos erupted at Mandava when the game between FC Platinum and CAPS United was abandoned in the 85th minute because of crowd trouble which erupted after an effort by the Green Machine was disallowed.

In April 2022, the high-profile showdown between FC Platinum and Highlanders was abandoned after Bosso fans invaded the pitch in protest over a penalty which was awarded to the hosts at Mandava. The scores were 1-1 when referee Kuzivakwamwari Jaravaza indicated that Peter Muduwa had fouled Walter Musona in the box in the 82nd minute. Television replays appeared to suggest that Muduwa had made con-tact with his opponent just outside the box.

All these incidents must have been dancing in the minds of the FC Platinum leaders as they prepared their statement to respond to the social media tsunami that erupted after their match against Scottland.

They must have asked themselves some tough questions. One of them probably was: Will it then be wrong for others to feel that all these refereeing decisions, which have gone in their favour, were not just a mere coincidence?

To God Be The Glory

Peace to the GEPA Chief, the Big Fish, George Norton, Daily Service, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and all the Chakariboys still in the struggle.

Come on Warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!

Khamaldinhoooooooooooo!

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