Musona shrugs off betting storm

By The Standard | Oct. 2, 2016

BELGIUM-BASED Zimbabwe international forward Knowledge Musona continued with his goal-scoring form in the wake of last week’s betting storm, notching in his fifth goal of the season for KV Oostende as they settled for a 2-2 draw against Sint-Truident in a Jupiler Pro League encounter on Friday night.

BY DANIEL NHAKANISO

Musona was last week named among a number of players who have allegedly been placing bets on some matches in the Belgian top-flight league.

And after receiving the backing of his club KV Oostende last week, the 26-year-old striker, whose goals helped the Warriors qualify for the 2016 Nations Cup finals for the first time in 10 years, repaid his club’s loyalty in style at the Versluys Arena in Oostende on Friday.

The talismanic striker scored KV Oostende’s second goal in the 41st minute to restore his team’s lead after his Ivorian teammate Zoro Cyriac had opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the seventh minute, before Sint-Truident equalised in the 39th minute.

Sint-Truident would, however, score their second equaliser of the match four minutes into stoppage time through Ukrainian Roman Bezus as the two teams settled for a share of the spoils.

However, the spotlight before and after the match was certainly on Musona as he shrugged off last week’s events by scoring his fifth goal in nine starts for KV Oostende this season.

Although he was delighted to continue scoring for his team, Musona said he was a little disappointed that they couldn’t manage to hang on to collect maximum points.

Keep Reading

“It was a great feeling [to score] and I thought my goal would be the winning goal. Unfortunately they got the equaliser in the last seconds of the game, but I think overally, we played a very good game and we hope to continue doing well in the next games,” he said after the match.

Friday night’s goal saw Musona move into second place on the Belgian Jupiler Pro League top goal scorers charts, behind Frenchman Idriss Saadi, who has found the back of the net seven times for KV Kortrijk.

The striker’s agent, Mike Makaab of Prosport International immediately congratulated his client on his goal-scoring prowess: saying it was remarkable given that he was playing as a support striker.

“Another goal for the [Smiling Assassin]. Knowledge Musona’s fifth goal in nine league games as a support striker. Congrats from all @ProsportInt,” Makaab posted on Twitter yesterday.

Musona’s participation in Friday’s encounter came after his club KV Oostende said last week there was no evidence that the former Aces Youth Academy and Kaizer Chiefs striker had placed bets in matches which he played.

“Musona has, indeed, been investigated and he reported it immediately to the club,” KV Oostende spokesperson Bram Keirsebilck told the Belgian media last week. “He has acted correctly. Since then [the Gambling Commission haven’t] notified the player nor the club about the matter. Whether he (gambled) on our own games, I do not know.’

The club also indicated that after talking to the player when he notified them of the case, they were satisfied that he needed to be supported and they expected at worst, that Musona could be fined by the country’s Gambling Commission.

The Belgian club said, unlike the other players who were mentioned in the scandal, Musona was quick to notify them that he had been placing some bets on matches in the country unaware that he was flouting the rules and regulations that bar football players from such conduct as part of measures adopted to preserve the integrity of the game.

One of the players named in the saga, Waasland-Beveren goalkeeper Laurent Henkinet had his contract terminated after it emerged that he had placed bets on his own team’s matches, including matches he featured in, which according to Belgian law is illegal.

The other player named in the saga, Olivier Deschacht, is still being investigated by the Gambling Commission in Belgium.