The ManicaPost
Fungayi Munyoro Sports Correspondent
ZIFA Eastern Region Division One side Buffaloes FC say they were disappointed with the league’s disciplinary committee judgement on their abandoned tie against fellow title contenders Tenax.
The match between the two sides was abandoned in the 93rd minute after Chimanimani-based referee, Polane Chomunoda, awarded a penalty to the army side.
The two sides were tied 1-1 when Tenax goalkeeper brought down a Buffaloes’ player in the box.
The penalty was taken to make it 2-1 in favour of Buffaloes before the Chimanimani-based match official made a U-turn and raised his hand to disallow the goal.
This left players from both sides confused.
Chomunoda then decided to give a direct kick to Tenax FC, which led to protests from fans who invaded the pitch.
This led to the abandonment of the match.
In its ruling, the disciplinary committee dismissed Buffaloes’ appeal.
“The Zifa Eastern Region executive committee wishes to inform your esteemed office that your appeal against the decision made by the executive committee on the abandoned league match played between yourselves (Buffaloes) and Tenax FC which on 27 July 2019 lacked merit and was, however, dismissed. The match is, however rescheduled to be played at a date and venue to be advised by the office,” reads part of the letter to Buffaloes.
Buffaloes organising secretary Aaron Dzvete feels his side was supposed to have been called for a meeting before a judgement was passed.
“We feel hard-done by the committee, but we will fulfil the fixture. We appealed and we paid the $2000 appeal fee. We were hoping that the committee would call us so that we present our case. We were not called for the meeting which we wanted, and instead a judgement was passed in our absence. We are disappointed,” he said.
The football governing body’s regional secretary Wisdom Simba said the league was concerned with the acts of misconduct and urged players and officials to respect one another on the field of play.
“The Zifa Eastern region soccer league is concerned with acts of misconduct and violence during and after football matches. We would like to appeal to all club officials, coaches, team managers, fans and all our stakeholders to observe fair play,” he said.
Simba said the Buffaloes-Tenax match will be played next weekend at Vengere Stadium in Rusape.
With only five games to go, Tenax FC are at the helm of the log with 56 points.
Buffaloes are three points behind them.
