Mighty Wanderers have threatened to complain to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) if Super League of Malawi (Sulom) and Football Association of Malawi (FAM) does act against Referee Gift Chico and Assistant Referee Benadetta Kwimbira Nzika, who are believed to have make some questionable decisions that led to the disruption of the Blantyre derby.
Wanderers were hosting defending champions Nyasa Big Bullets in a TNM Super League match at Kamuzu Stadium.
Defender Stanley Sanudi put Wanderers ahead in the 13th minutes, Bullets leveled the score line in the second half, thanks to an own goal from Wanderers Yunus Sherrif.
The match was stopped in the 82nd minutes when some spectators pelted stones into the pitch and law enforcers responded by firing tear gas to disperse the spectators, considered to be Wanderer’s supporters.
It all started when Assistant Referee Bernadette Kwimbila declined to give what was seen as a clear corner kick to Wanderers.
Her decision did not go down well with Wanderers players Stanley Sanudi, Ted Sumani and Alfred Manyozo Jnr, all confronted the Assistant Referee Kwimbira, forcing centre referee Chico to show them yellow card and a red card to defender Ted Sumani for a second bookable offence.
Later Wanderers supporters started pelting objects into the pitch in protest against officiating crew’s decisions.
Following a 20-minute delay, the match resumed, but never lasted as Police heavily fired tear gas outside the stadium, forcing all players and officiating crew to leave the pitch.
Referees had to be whisked away in an armored Police vehicle from the stadium.
And in its statement, Wanderers have condemned the violence, advising law enforcers to bring to book the perpetrators.
The Nomads blame the officiating crew for making poor decisions throughout the match.
Part of the statement reads, “Their suspect and dubious decisions disrupted an otherwise good match and changed the fate of the game. It sad when good football is not allowed to win on the pitch.
“We hope the football authorities will review suspect decisions, using video footage which is readily available and establish the root cause of such actions to ensure that football is the winner all the time.
“The officiating crew made quite extraordinary and unexplainable decisions. The officiation fell a long way short of the standard that should have been considered acceptable. We regret such unprofessional conduct from Referee Gift Chico and the Assistant Referee Bernadette Kwimbila and we Sulom and FAM to decisively act on these two. These dubious and suspect decisions are ruining the beautiful game of football in this country.
“We shall be officially lodging our complaint to Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and Super League of Malawi (Sulom) within the prescribed period as stipulated under the relevant statutes governing football in this country. We shall also officially lodge our complaint to the Referees Association of Malawi against the two. We shall complain to the Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) if Football Association of Malawi and Super League of Malawi does not act against the two as we are gathering evidence from mobile phone service providers.
“The officiating crew of yesterday should not be found anywhere near football. I hope very much that Fam and Sulom will look at the TV recording of the match to form a view about the acceptability of the two’s performance and their suitability to referee future matches,” reads the statement in part.
