Are our referees being paid to swing matches in favour of certain clubs or they are just not good enough ?
That is the question that is being asked over and over again as week-in and week-out questionable decisions continue to dog our football with match fixing at the centre of discussion.
Surely, what is happening to our football has gone far beyond human error to the extent that questions are being raised as to whether our referees are going through the same training as those from outside our borders.
However, there is a school of thought that is of the opinion that the referees know exactly what they are supposed to be doing but have been blinded by their penchant love for extra money.
They argue that the situation has not been made any better by these new cash-rich clubs who are willing to do anything for the sake of picking up the points — even if it means paying the referee or the opposition.
Whether this is the case or not the fact remains that our football continues to go down the drain while those in the corridors of football power are standing up and looking.
Surely, who can forget what happened on May 1 at Ngoni Stadium in the match between MWOS and Manica Diamonds in which the referee awarded The Punters a penalty, which video replays showed was not a penalty at all.
Or what happened on May 3 at Ascot Stadium in the match between TelOne and Bikita Minerals in which observers believe the penalty that gave the WiFi Boys a 1-0 win should never had been awarded in the first place.
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Both matches were stopped for more than 10 minutes as the visiting teams protested the penalties which gave a share of the spoils to MWOS and all the three points in the case of TelOne.
It would surely be cruel to connect MWOS and TelOne to the disputed penalties, but one thing that stands out is that the referees did the two teams a favour - even without their involvement.
What is saddening is that complaints and accusations about referees continue to pile on Zifa's doorsteps, but nothing is being done to investigate what exactly is happening or at least try to find out.
Surely, in a normal football environment, a relook would have been done at both the Ngoni and Ascot Stadium incidents and action would have been taken on the referees if indeed they made the wrong calls.
Not forgetting that for the entire 2024 soccer season allegations were flying around in the Zifa Northern Region that referees were being paid to swing matches in favour of certain teams.
Although there were quite a number of matches which stood out, nothing was again done to investigate whether the complaints were genuine or just the sound of bitterness from a loser.
Ignoring the allegations, seems to give substance to the call that some of those in charge of referees at Zifa are part of the corruption that has taken root within our referees system.
The mistake the new Zifa leadership has done is to bring back into the system some of those who have been dealing with referees over the past four or so years when the best idea was for a clean sweep.
Surely, we still have one or two referees who live by the book and we need to protect them and the new ones to come by removing the wolves from within the system.
Those who have been leading the corrupt scheme at Zifa are known and the rotten referee are also known and now is the time to give them the boot before the situation gets out of control.
We surely have competent, proven, and reputable referees leaders like Antony Mandiwanza, Wilfred Mukuna, Kizito Ndoro, Ruzive Ruzive — amongst others - capable of bringing back trust and belief in our referees.
Now is the time to give them the mantle to handle the Zifa Referees Committee and save our football from the fall it is heading to.
*For your views, comments, and suggestions, [email protected], or WhatsApp on 071 0774 596 or call 0773 266 779.
