Ugly scenes at Balaka Stadium led to the abandonment of a crucial Super League title decider between Mighty Wanderers and Silver Strikers yesterday.
The development led to the Super League of Malawi (Sulom) shelving the crowning of the winners until the disciplinary committee meets to determine the way forward.
As we went to press yesterday, there were unconfirmed reports that one Nomads fan died in the fracas and police were holding a Silver supporter in connection with the ugly scenes at the stadium.
Hell broke loose when suspected Mighty Wanderers fans and their Silver counterparts were involved in a free-for-all brawl that resulted in the fence surrounding the pitch being forced down.
Police had to fire tear-gas to disperse the crowd and restore order.
At the time of the abandonment in the second half, the Bankers were on course to win the title as they led 1-0.
But Sulom general secretary Williams Banda said the game had not matured.
Banda blamed police for not heeding advice to be vigilant at the stands.
“We advised them to be right in the stands, but they ignored the advice and by the time they reacted by throwing tear gas, it was too late and the situation went out of control,” said Banda.
Wonderboy Chawanangwa Kaonga scored the priceless goal with a sublime finish when he swung upfield to head home a Thoko Stambuli cross. It was all simple, nothing was forced.
Moyale Barracks finished with 50 points after beating Mzuzu United 4-1 at Mzuzu Stadium.
However, Moyale still have a chance to win the league in the event that Sulom orders a replay of the abandoned Balaka game and Wanderers win.
Mafco’s chances of winning the title were blown away when they were held to a goalless draw by Civo United to finish on 49 points.
A heavy downpour forced referee Jones Makhuwira to stop the Mafco game for over 20 minutes to enable officials clear the waterlogged pitch.
In Mzuzu, Chamveka Gwetsani scored twice in the first-half for Moyale before Deus Nkutu added the third 10 minutes into the second-half. Mid-way in this half, Mzuzu United pulled one back through a penalty converted by Peter Kasonga while Nkutu netted the fourth for Moyale in the dying minutes of the game.
Moyale team manager Victor Phiri said they were happy to finish the season with a win.
“We will have to wait for Sulom’s ruling on the abandoned match in Balaka; otherwise, to finish as runners-up will not be bad either,” said Phirin
