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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
THE ZIFA Referees Committee have condemned the incidents of violence against their members in the domestic Premiership after assistant referee Edgar Rumeki was injured during a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at the weekend.
Rumeki was hit and injured by a missile hurled at him by rowdy fans in the match between Dynamos and Herentals at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday.
This comes as coaches and clubs have also raised complaints against the standard of match officiating, which has seen local referees coming under the spotlight in the last few weeks.
ZIFA Referees Committee vice-chairperson Ruzive Ruzive yesterday admitted to the referees’ short-comings but spoke strongly against the violence targeted at Rumeki.
“That was an unfortunate incident. Obviously we want referees and their staff to be protected by the police and the clubs’ security.
“Of course we have had situations where referees have erred and we admit to our errors. Referees make mistakes time and again but no matter the circumstances, referees on duty don’t deserve any form of violence against them.
“Referees are humans and they may err in some situations. No referee should ever be victimised for doing his or her job. Violence against referees is totally unacceptable. I am sure there are processes that can be followed if a team is not happy with how a referee dispenses his or her duties,” said Ruzive.
Dynamos are likely to be charged by the Premier Soccer League.
But referees have been making headlines of late. FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza threatened to quit football in protest of what he claimed to be poor officiating in this Castle Lager Premier Soccer League defeat to Herentals recently.
The veteran gaffer had to restrain his frustrated players who mobbed referee Lawrence Zimondi over an incident that could have given Herentals their second goal.
Some coaches have refrained from complaining publicly for fear of PSL sanctions.
But Dynamos coach Hebert Maruwa had issues with referee Thabani Bamala and his assistants over the way their handled their goalless draw at the weekend.
Bamala waved away two penalty appeals from Dynamos and also made some questionable decisions during the match.
“Yes we have received some complaints from the PSL over the conduct of some referees and I would like to confirm that after looking at the evidence, action has been taken if one was found on the wrong side.
“In fact, sometimes we have acted even before the PSL had approached us because we receive reports from the match commissioner after every game and we analyse them carefully.
“If we find evidence that a referee made a mistake, especially one that affected the result of a game, no one is spared the discipline. We have set aside a mandatory minimum six-week suspension for such cases,” said Ruzive.
“I think we have said this time and again, as a committee we would want our referees to do their best in each and every game that they are assigned.
“But then, complaints keep cropping up. When such things happen there are always channels that should be followed and corrective action will be taken against the concerned referee, obviously if the evidence points to their blameworthiness.
“Some referees have been suspended this season. I will not say out the names but if you follow the trends well you will see that some referees will not get any appointments
“As we have done since the start of the season we have tried by all means to take corrective measures whenever it was proved that the matches officials were out of line.”
Ruzive also felt their members were being wrongly targeted in some instances, pointing to the criticism by Highlanders coach at the weekend was the case in point.
Brito claimed that referees had an agenda against Highlanders following their goalless draw with Simba Bhora.
The Portuguese coach claimed a 79th minute decision to deny them a goal by assistant referee Michael Zulu who adjudged that Highlanders forward Lynoth Chikuhwa was offside when he headed in a McKinnnon Mushore cross from the right was offside was one of the incidents that he felt his team was robbed of maximum points.
The Highlanders gaffer was not amused that Simba Bhora’s goalkeeper Simbarashe Chinani escaped without caution a 39th minute incident when he appeared to have used his hands to block a Godfrey Makaruse chip outside the box.
But replays showed that the referee Allan Bhasvi and his assistants made the correct decisions.
“We don’t reject criticism. Like I said referees have made errors, some of the errors serious and we admit, but we feel there are some cases where the criticism is unjustified. Sometimes the coaches just find soft target by blaming their referees for their teams’ failures.
“We have reviewed one game played on Sunday where a coach claimed they were denied a penalty and had a genuine goal disallowed but we actually found out that the referee made correct decisions upon review.
“A closer look at the alleged penalty incident shows that there was no penalty at all. Secondly, they claimed the opposition goalkeeper handled the ball with his hands outside his area but that again was not proved by the evidence we have.
“Then the player who scored the disallowed goal was actually off-side and in that case what do we do? Sometimes we are getting unjustified criticism and the coaches are getting away with murder.”
Ruzive also said referees were also getting criticism wrongly for not playing more additional time to compensate for the time-wasting antics of teams.
“We are all supposed as stakeholders to act responsibly. Teams are not playing football, they are employing delaying tactics and the blame is brought back to the referees.
“There is supposed to be a multi-ball system and ball boys stationed around the stadium but most of the time they disappear. Players delay restarting the game and many times, they claim injury probably to wind down the clock.
“As referees we can only engage the teams to do the right thing. As a referee you cannot easily as-certain if one is feigning injury or not because we are not doctors.
“We have a case where the Hwange coach on Sunday claimed in the post-match interview his players had travelled a long distance to play CAPS United and his players suffered cramps. Whether their cramps were genuine or not, it’s only them that know the truth.
“So as referees, before we are blamed for not playing additional 20 minutes to compensate for the lost time, which is difficult under our circumstances, the other stakeholders need to do their job fairly and then we do the rest to make the game fair and full of value. We need to improve all aspects of the game,” said Ruzive.
Online Reporter