Leave Silver alone
Never mind that in Planet Football underworld there are other vices such as throwing and tanking—the only thing that exists in Malawi football is match-fixing.
Therefore, in a week when Europol descended on 425 match officials from 15 European countries suspected of fixing 380 matches, Malawi played its simplified version of match fixing theories.
Blantyre United’s uncharacteristic 5-0 whitewash by Silver Strikers on Sunday triggered it all.
Never mind that no illegal betting syndicates are being mentioned in this supposed Silver Stadium match-fixing.
Therefore, while Fifa was creating a website dedicated to match-fixing whistle-blowers, some local fans took their match-fixing evidence to social networks instead of the police.
Questions arose.
How could United who defeated Silver 2-1 in the TNM Super League first round, walloped 4-2 Mighty Wanderers, twice held Big Bullets and strolled past most giants, collapse like a deck of cards?
United, who fell 3-1 to Epac a fortnight ago, simply could lose 5-0.
Such defeats are only understandable when Manchester United crumbles 6-1 to Manchester City or when Barcelona thump La Liga title contenders Real Madrid 5-0.
In Malawi, the only acceptable result for Silver at this stage is either a draw or a loss.
Yet it is not match-fixing when Escom United loses over 10 of 14 second round games.
It is not match-fixing when in the league Bullets falters 4-0 and draws 1-1 away against Silver.
But after all is said about Silver the fact is that championship aspirants usually avoid losing to contenders, makes home ground count, are models of consistency, do not bank on other teams’ favours, have depth and resources.
Silver topped the first round. They posted only one home league loss had the least defeat of five, most wins, 17, and three draws. And they have depth.
On Sunday, Silver faced a depleted United minus regulars Jimmy Chikulekule and Brown Mizeye.
Therefore, the allegations levelled against Silver were as predictable as they were scratching the surface and skirting around issues common in Malawi football.
Match-fixing in Malawi could be real but we are being simplistic, picky and choosy. It takes a whole network to fix a match.
The real issues to be dealt with are more football investment and synchronising of the shambolic football calendar. This is what to leads to some teams such as Silver accumulating games. Accept that the balance of domestic football power has shifted to the Central Region. Leave Silver alone.
