Ref contradicts NRFA on dispute

The referee who officiated the controversial Northern Region Football Association (NRFA) Premier Division match between Kaporo United and Mzuni that has plunged the league into turbulent waters, claims the match was played in normal time with an additional five minutes.

The NRFA rescheduled the game, which Kaporo won 1-0, on the basis that it did not mature as it was played under 75 minutes, but referee Adam Musomba claims the match was played in normal regulation time.

Mzuni won the league after they were awarded the game under dispute as Kaporo did not show up for the rescheduled game, arguing  they saw no reason for a replay and that NRFA was just advancing Mzuni’s interests.

The boardroom decision saw Mzuni pipping Chilumba by a point to be declared champions and earn promotion into the flagship Super League.

“I officiated the match in question and it was played in normal time. Actually there were five minutes added on due to stoppages.

“I dully filed the match report  to the league through Mr. Ngonya who is the chairperson for referees here in Karonga and I wonder where the association got the reports that the game did not mature,” said Musomba when he spoke exclusively to The Nation from Karonga on Wednesday evening.

He further claimed that at no time did the NRFA contact him to hear his side after Mzuni had lodged a complaint.

“Actually, I just heard it through the radios that the match had been rescheduled and I was very surprised because at no time did the association summon me if at all there was an abnormally,” said Musomba.

The league’s fixtures secretary Dominic Msowoya claimed that the rescheduling of the match was done without following procedures.

“I cannot comment much on the initial game because at that time I was outside the country, but as someone at the hub of the fixtures, I was surprised with the procedure used to reschedule the game because we were bypassed.

“We never sat down as a [fixtures] committee to reschedule the match, we were not involved. The decision came from above,” said Msowoya.

However, NRFA general secretary Alfred Gunda claimed that the referee’s report never reached the league.

Asked then how a determination was made to have the match rescheduled without the referee’s report, Gunda said: “We have a member in Karonga, Dave Muyombe, who represents us in the district and when Mzuni lodged a complaint, we contacted him to shed more light.

“The reason we contacted Muyombe and not the referee was that Mzuni played under protest and lodged a complaint to us. One of their complaints was that the referee is affiliated to Kaporo as a player and, therefore, was not eligible to officiate the match.

“In fact, we gathered that the match did not mature because it started late as Mzuni were protesting against the referee,” added Gunda.

But Musomba dismissed the claims, saying there were no such protests and that he is a qualified referee who officiates competitive games.

Gunda further said the referee in question was an altanative as the one who was initially assigned did not turn up.

Asked if Kaporo were summoned to be heard prior to rescheduling the game, the NRFA GS claimed that all the necessary parties were engaged.

“The problem is that people want to appear clever now, I wasn’t around when the case was heard, but they were engaged and it was surprising to hear them say they were not contacted.”

But Gunda admitted that the association should partly shoulder the blame for delaying to fix the rescheduled match.

“On that, I think we should take the blame because the delay fuelled the controversy as it was done at the very end of the league, but that does not mean the game should not have been played and we still stand by our decision that Mzuni are the champions and we have since submitted a report to FAM on the same.

“However, we hear that Chilumba Barracks [the runners-up] have once again taken up the matter with FAM and we shall wait for the outcome,” said Gunda.

Chilumba Barracks chairperson Major Precious Basikolo yesterday reiterated that they still expect FAM to act on their complaint against the manner in which the league championship was determined, saying they feel robbed of the championship.

“We lodged a complaint to FAM in which we asked that the rescheduled match between Kaporo and Mzuni should not take place until the issues we raised were looked into, but instead, FAM referred the matter to the NRFA, the very same body that we complained about and to make matters even worse, they did not even respond to our letter So, our position remains that FAM should look into the issue or else we will pull out from competitive football,” said Basikolo.

Kaporo sponsor Alufeyo Banda also said they lodged a complaint to both NRFA and FAM against the decision to have their match against Mzuni rescheduled.

“We were not even summoned by the NRFA in regard to what seems like a case between us and Mzuni, it is clear that they are advancing their own interests which is detrimental to the development of the game and if at all there was an abnormally, why raising the issue now and not then?” queried Banda.

However, Mzuni’s chairperson Mtungambera Harawa on Wednesday said rescheduling of a game is not phenomenon.

“The issue is being blown out of proportion. We played the initial game under protest for a number of reasons. To begin with, the referee who was assigned did not show up and the one who was identified to take over was not qualified and also played for Kaporo at one time.

“After the disagreements, we agreed to play under protest and the match started very late at around to 5 [pm] and ended prematurely and not what the referee wrote in his report. That was the basis of our complaint that we lodged which led to the league rescheduling the match. And to us, this is now water under the bridge as we are now busy preparing for the Super League,” said Harawa, somehow contradicting Gunda on the availability of referee’s report.

Super League of Malawi (Sulom) president Innocent Bottoman said although the league declared Mzuni as champions, they would wait for FAM’s determination.

“The right body to declare champions in this case is the NRFA, but if the matter has been referred to FAM then we will wait for the outcome, but we would urge FAM to look into the matter as quickly as possible so as not to affect the league kickoff,” said Bottoman.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) general secretary SuzgoNyirenda, who was outside the country, had not yet responded to our e-mail yesterday, but the association’s president Walter Nyamilandu said he was aware of the controversy.

“I am aware that there are challenges, but I do not know the technicalities involved as it is being handled by the GS. However, it is an issue that is being looked into with urgency for the good of the game,” said Nyamilandu.

Last season, there was also a dispute on the championship race between Karonga United and Mzuni that delayed the conclusion of the league,  butKaronga were declared champions.