Mohamed Salah signs new deal with Liverpool

By SPORTS REPORTER POOR officiating by referees in the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) lower division football leagues is having a negative impact on the growth of football in Zambia, a Chipata based soccer analyst, Elias Tembo has observed.

In a statement issued to Daily Nation sports in Lusaka yesterday, Tembo alleged that referees in charge of lower division leagues games are unprofessional as they are fond of getting bribes.

Tembo wondered whether FAZ trains match officials before they can be approved to handle league games. He said there was need for the local soccer governing body to empower referees with the required knowledge to execute their duties diligently.

Tembo further charged that most referees fail to progress in their careers because of bias officiating which is killing the growth of the game in the country.“On 2nd June, 2018 there was a division one match played between Chipata City Council FC and Katete Rangers FC which was played at David Kaunda Stadium in Chipata. The centre referee was very biased favouring the home team. Most of the decisions he made against the visiting team (Katete Rangers) were wrong.

“I think this is why some of these village referees do not progress in their careers. Are they corrupt or it's just their desire to support the local clubs?The rules of the referee are that they don't need to be a supporter of any of the two teams because it disadvantages the other team which may not have the referee’s support,” Tembo noted.

“We are asking FAZ to take this complaint seriously because if such wrong trends are entertained in football it will destroy the good image of Zambian referees across the globe,” he added. LIVERPOOL forward Mohamed Salah has signed a new fiveyear contract with the club.

The 26-year-old Egypt international joined the Reds for £34m from Roma last summer and has scored 44 goals in 52 appearances for the club.

His new deal, which runs until 2023, does not contain a release clause.

"It demonstrates two things very clearly - his belief in Liverpool and our belief in him," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Salah was the top scorer in the Premier League last season, netting 32 goals - the most by a player in a 38-game campaign - to win the Golden Boot.

His performances also helped him win last season's Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.