BB suspect sabotage on fans’ violence

Nyasa Big Bullets suspect some of its former officials were behind the violence that erupted at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Sunday after their goalless draw with Azam Tigers.

Police had to fire tear gas outside the stadium to disperse some irate fans who bayed for referee Andy Kuseli’s blood for not granting Bullets a penalty in extra time after a Tigers defender appeared to have handled the ball in the box.

Kuseli was manhandled by some alleged Bullets fans as he walked out of the pitch and he required police escort to get out of the stadium as the angry mob chanted against him.

“We believe politics was at play at this match because for the past few seasons, our supporters have not been involved in such bad behaviour. Some individuals are playing dirty tricks to sabotage the club and paint a bad picture about our reputation to our dear sponsors,” said Bullets general secretary Kelvin Moyo.

“We learned that on the day some of the club’s former officials were buying entry tickets for some fans and it is not clear what their intentions were. I cannot mention their names now as we will set up an investigation team to look into the matter thoroughly.”

He added that they will investigate if those involved in the manhandling of the referee were indeed Bullets supporters.

Bullets supporters committee chairperson Stone Mwamadi concurred with Moyo that internal politics might have played a part in the violence.

“We were surprised that some former officials paid for fans unknown to us without involving our zonal committees as per the requirement. We believe it was such people that were involved in the violence,”  he said.

Meanwhile, it is not known what step(s) Super League of Malawi (Sulom) will take on the violence as  general secretary Williams Banda said he could not comment as he was outside the country while the league’s president Innocent Botoman and his vice Daud Suleiman could not be reached. n