Nomads deny FAM charges, file fresh appeal

Mighty Mukuru Wanderers have denied charges levelled against them by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) for failing to honour their Airtel Top 8 quarter-final second leg fixture against Silver Strikers at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre last Wednesday.

The match was awarded to the Central Bankers with a 2-0 victory margin after the Nomads were charged with failure to show up at the venue as scheduled and bringing the game of football into disrepute.

In a response signed by the club’s legal adviser Chancy Gondwe, the Nomads argue that FAM should not have scheduled the match pending their appeal.

Reads the response in part: “The outcomes of the appeal are likely to implicate the further organisation of matches in the tournament.

“Resultantly, yourselves have postponed the purported semi-final tie between Silver Strikers and Mafco to pave the way for guidance by the appeals committee.

“The propriety of holding the second leg fixture, upon which the charges of misconduct are premised, remains a live and contentious issue before the appeals committee.”

Wanderers have also asked FAM to halt any disciplinary proceedings against them pending determination of their appeal “and respect the due process currently underway in your judicial bodies”.

The Nomads’ statement also says: “Be that as it may, we categorically deny both counts contained in the charge sheets.

“We formally communicated to your office that we would be unable to honour the second leg fixture for reasons that were contained in our correspondence. It was impracticable for us to fulfil the second leg fixture while the fate of the first leg match was unresolved and is still a subject of the appeal.”

The Nomads further argue that FAM’s conduct in insisting on scheduling the second leg “while a pending appeal existed, amounted to conduct that brings the game into disrepute amongst other disciplinary offences”.

The club says it will, therefore, lodge a formal complaint to the FAM disciplinary and FAM ethics committees to take appropriate action against the association, its general secretary Alfred Gunda and the association’s subordinates as well as members of the competitions committee.

Meanwhile, the Nomads have also filed their appeal to FAM Appeals Committee against the determination by the association’s disciplinary committee to uphold an earlier determination by the competitions committee which found them guilty of causing the abandonment of the first leg, consequently awarding the match to Silver with a 2-0 margin victory as well as a fine amounting to about K24.5 million.

Among other grounds, the Nomads argue that the disciplinary committee erred in finding them guilty of causing the abandonment of the match “when the match was never restarted after the referee had blown his whistle for an infringement”.

Reads the appeal in part: “Having found that referee Mr. Godfrey Nkhakananga committed an obvious officiating error, the Football Association of Malawi Disciplinary Committee erred in law and in fact in failing to determine that he caused abandonment of the match.

“Having found that Nkhakananga committed an obvious officiating error, the Football Association of Malawi Disciplinary Committee erred in law and in fact in failing to determine that refusal to order a replay defeats the spirit of fair play and encourages errant referees to make biased decisions.”