Nyasa Big Bullets have denied most of the charges levelled against them by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) following the fracas that marred their Airtel Top 8 final match against Blue Eagles at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
The ugly scenes occurred on July 1 after referee Mischeck Juwa awarded Eagles a penalty which led to the only goal of the match.
FAM through its disciplinary committee has since summoned the People’s Team to a disciplinary hearing tomorrow.
In a letter addressed to FAM general secretary, dated July 9 and signed by legal director Madalitso M’meta, which The Nation has seen, Bullets have denied the charge of beating or bullying a match official (Juwa) by their players Miracle Gabeya and Mike Mkwate.
“We have no evidence of beating or bullying by our players. For the record, the above mentioned players did complain to the match referee about the unceremonious lapse of the added minutes.
“We deny that Martin Kaunda and unidentified supporters did bully the referee. Please kindly provide us with such evidence to substantiate the allegation,” reads part of the letter.
Bullets also deny criticising match officials in public (through a press release), inciting violence and bringing the game into disrepute.
“In addition, we also attribute the brutal handling of suspected deviants by the stewards or security detail engaged by FAM to have escalated or incited the violence. We trust that professional handling of massive crowds would go a long way in resolving the violence that is associated with the beautiful game of football.”
Bullets further argue that they find the allegation against their chief executive officer Fleetwood Haiya and supporters director Stone Mwamadi of being involved in a brawl to be “unfair and malicious”.
“It is very clear that our Mr. Haiya was dragged into the fray by an unknown victim of the violence to offer support to the victims and our players. In the fear of the safety of our Mr. Haiya, Mr. Stone Mwamadi got into the scene to secure a safe passage for Mr. Haiya,” the letter further reads.
While confirming filing the response to FAM, Haiya yesterday refused to comment on the issue and referred The Nation to FAM.
FAM acting competitions manager Casper Jangale confirmed receiving Bullets’ response, saying the disciplinary hearing is set for tomorrow in Blantyre.
