Continued violence worries TNM

TNM, sponsors of the flagship Super League, have said they are disturbed by the continued acts of violence at football matches that culminated in a loss of life at Balaka Stadium during an abandoned decider between Mighty Wanderers and Silver Strikers on Saturday.

To this effect, TNM head of marketing Sobhuza Ngwenya said management has agreed to wait for a report from Sulom to determine the way forward.

“We have been talking about the avoidance of violence and hooliganism at football matches for a long time. We are disturbed with the latest incident, especially the loss of life and several injuries.

“It is quite saddening because football is supposed to be a celebratory game. We condemn the violence in strongest terms,” said Ngwenya.

He also expressed disappointment that while they were ready to draw the curtain, marking the end of the season, the process had been halted by the sad development.

“For us, we were ready to celebrate,” he said.

Sulom general secretary Williams Banda said what happened in Balaka was saddening and unacceptable.

“We will wait for an official report and then refer it to our disciplinary committee for their perusal. The incident has put the game, Sulom and the sponsors into disrepute.

“For now, what we can say is that the game was inconclusive as it did not mature,” said Banda.

The game was abandoned in the 61st minute as the Bankers led 1-0 through Chawanangwa Kaonga’s 39th minute strike.

Silver have 50 points from 27 games, just like Moyale who have concluded their fixtures, but have 24 goal difference compared to the Bankers’ 21.

Moyale will be keeping their fingers crossed that Sulom should order a replay and hope that the Nomads should win the match for them to be crowned champions.