Chapungu in match quandary
THE controversial replay between Chapungu and Dynamos set for Ascot tomorrow now hangs in the balance after the Gweru airmen said they don’t have enough players to field for the match as per the terms and conditions prescribed by the Premier Soccer League disciplinary committee.
The game was brought to a premature halt four minutes before the hour mark when a goal-post collapsed under the weight of the Chapungu goalkeeper with the Glamour Boys leading 4-0 at the time of the stoppage.
Repeated attempts by the Gweru City Council employees to repair the goal-post failed and the referee was left with no option but to call off the match.
The PSL, who have been heavily criticised for taking too long to prescribe a solution to the case, took the case to a special tribunal that ruled that the match should be replayed from the minute it was called off.
The tribunal also ruled that the scoreline should read 4-0 in favour of DeMbare and the referees who were in charge of the game on that day should also take control of this match.
Should the Glamour Boys win this game, as is widely expected, they will go top of the Castle Lager Premiership table in a tight race that also features Chicken Inn, Ngezi Platinum and FC Platinum.
The PSL sent a notice this week that the match will be played tomorrow but there are a number of challenges, given that some of the players who were fielded by both teams in that match, have either left or are injured.
Chapungu no longer have two of the players who were part of their cast that afternoon, Nigel Papius and Ngonidzashe Murisa, who have left the club.
The Gweru airmen also revealed they have four other players who are injured and are unable to be fielded for the match tomorrow.
This means they are only left with 12 of the 18 players who were part of that game, including two goalkeepers, and only 10 in-field players.
Chapungu argue that given a lot can happen in half-an-hour of football, forcing them to play the remainder of that game with a makeshift squad would be unfair to them and the principles of Fair Play which should be guarded jealously by the country’s football leader.
Chapungu public relations officer Tawanda Zowa told The Herald they have written to the PSL notifying them that they can’t meet the terms of the match without plunging the integrity of the league, and their own profile, into disrepute.
The airmen say they also owe the other teams in the championship race a favour to fight as hard as they can in this match because only the best team should be crowned champions.
“We have written to PSL notifying them of our position that we have some players who will not be able to make it in the team who were in the team on that day,’’ said Zowa. ‘’We are now waiting for their response. “But the bottom line is that we will not be able to abide by their directive. Two of our players have since left the club and we have four who are injured and cannot make a match day squad.’’
Chapungu have six players who can’t be fielded tomorrow as Ngonidzashe Murisa and Nigel Papius, who were on the bench during that game in June, have since left the club.
Murisa, whose elder brother Stewart won the 1996 Soccer Star of the Year award, has joined fellow Airforce of Zimbabwe side Blue Swallows and Papius is now on the books of Bantu Rovers.
Papius was in inspired form as Bantu Rovers shocked Tsholotsho 3-1 in the preliminary round of the Chibuku Super Cup at Mandava on Saturday.
The exciting Ian Nyoni, Blessing Zabula, Raymond Sibanda and Maxwell Mavhuto, who were part of the line-up that day, are injured and out of the match.
There are also concerns about the PSL’s decision to order fans to pay $2 to watch the game with some analysts saying this was tantamount to ripping off the supporters who were not to blame for the chaos that engulfed the first game.
However, Zowa said they were in full support of the PSL decision that, should the game be played, the fans have to pay to watch it.
“It is also unfortunate that supporters will have to pay their way into the stadium again when they paid for that abandoned match,’’ he said.
“The problem is that a football club has other expenses which they incur to fulfil their matches which will not allow them to host a match without charging fans.’’
Fans paid $5 for the cheapest tickets to watch the abandoned match in June.
By the time the goal-post gave in under the weight of goalkeeper Talbert Shumba, the Glamour Boys were in a comfort zone as they led 4-0 thanks to goals from a brace by Emmanuel Mandiranga and Denver Mukamba and Christian Ntouba.
Chapungu have six players who can’t be fielded tomorrow as Ngonidzashe Murisa and Nigel Papius, who were on the bench during that game in June, have since left the club.