Blantyre derby on my mind
The Blantyre derby could not have come at a better weekend when the European leagues are on break owing to World Cup 2018 qualifiers.
There will be no excuses to miss this match. Of course, there are some mouth-watering matches on the continent live on SuperSport such as Ivory Coast vs Mali, Burkina Faso vs South Africa and Senegal vs Carpe Verde this afternoon.
But these fixtures cannot beat the spectacle of the Blantyre derby today. For some time, the significance of the derby has been diluted by substandard football and violence by some uncouth individuals.
However, it would appear the standards are slowly picking up. Nomads have acquired foreign players in some Nigerians. I hope they will add some value and attacking impetus to the Nomads.
The Nomads need to win this match because their outing to the North last week was disastrous. Nomads supporters are craving for success in the TNM Super League. It has been a long time since they won the league to a point where the drought is now mirroring that of Arsenal. I hope today Nomads can make a statement.
Bullets should come prepared today otherwise they will drink sweat and tears instead of kumwa wamkaka. No pork soup tricks, zampira basi. Whosoever drinks whole cream milk between Mapalestina and Nyerere let them enjoy it to the fullest.
However, in the build-up, there has been disturbing news where the two clubs agreed to do away with the police and stewards preferring their own security.
The reason behind dumping the police are valid. Most of the times police are seen at the games they throw tear gas at fans in times of turbulence instead of maintaining security, hence, causing more pandemonium than calming supporters.
But in the end, teams get charged for failing to control their supporters. The clubs pay huge allowances to the police for crowd control but the clubs are punished by FAM and pay huge fines.
That being the case, however, the way forward is not to do away with the police. The way forward is to make the police more proactive in crowd control.
You can’t trust these supporters. We have been complaining that these supporters are fraudulently taking money from gates. Using them as security personnel is giving them more control over the matches. We cannot allow the game to be governed by uncouth supporters. Give the police a chance. It is their job. Let sanity prevail.
Lastly I would like to thank Frank ‘Gabadihno’ Mhango who sneaked into the country during the week to cheer patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital before donating assorted items.
His rags to riches story is very inspiring. Not long ago, he was being insulted for failing JC exams, age cheating and many things. Today he is a star. He has won three man of the match trophies this season already. Not to mention the MTN top 8 winners medal.
There are plenty of lessons we can draw from Gaba’s story. The biggest lesson for me is, we should not block these players from playing professional football abroad.
What has happened to Muhammad Sulumba is unfair. Bullets should allow the player to go on free transfer. I end my entry on this hushtag. #letsulumbagoforfree#
