Chitembwe opens up on Nyamhunga altercation
caPs United coach Lloyd chitembwe yesterday said the football stadium is increasingly becoming an unsafe environment for players and officials following incidents at Nyamhunga when he was heckled by herentals supporters.
chitembwe found himself in the eye of the storm after he got involved in a heated exchange with a section of the student’s fans who hurled verbal insults at him following his red card late on in his team’s 2-0 win.
he had to be restrained by the club’s security personnel from confronting the abusive fans on his way back to the changing rooms. a short video clip of the mayhem was circling on social media at the weekend.
The former Zimbabwe international yesterday told the Zimpapers sports hub that he was a victim of abuse and pleaded with the authorities to take corrective measures by identifying the abusive fans and meting out corresponding punishment.
“It’s sad, I don’t want to lie,” he said. “I am a football coach; I am doing my job and I get insults and abuse. Why?
“Of course, I got a red card and I was walking back to the dressing room and then someone started shouting insults at me and threatened to beat me up. For what?
“If I may ask, just because they are fans, do they have the right to insult and threaten officials as they wish?
“What surprises me is that if it was CAPS United, Dynamos, or highlanders supporters involved in such offensive behaviour, which is in breach of the PSL regulations, they would be punished heavily. These other teams always get away with it.”
according to the Premier soccer League Regulations, it is an offence for supporters to insult players and officials. Order 31.1.13.6 on spectators’ conduct at football matches says it is an act of misconduct for fans “failing to conduct themselves in an orderly fashion and 31.1.13.7 Insulting players, team officials, match officials or any other person at the game.”
chitembwe said the PSL should fine either herentals or sanction the concerned fans, who are regulars at the students’ games.
“The evidence is there, and rules are clear. so why not find herentals? are those fans not known? These guys should be identified and punished or the fine club. Otherwise, we are cultivating a culture of impunity.
“The football stadium must be a safe place for everyone. These guys (football authorities) always talk of protecting the brand and the sponsors and we sometimes get punished if we err but sadly the people who make it happen — the players and coaches — are not protected,” said chitembwe.
Nevertheless, Makepekepe recorded their first win after midfielder Ralph Kawondera headed in their first goal from a free-kick by Godknows Murwira late in the first half.
Veteran forward Rodwell chinyengetere doubled the lead in the second half, to erase memories of the 0-1 defeat to chicken Inn in their season opener the previous weekend.
assistant coach Nelson Matongorere was relieved with the triumph.
“Like I said before, you can’t rate us with the first game against chicken Inn. That was a slow start. If you were there when we played that game, you could see it just wasn’t our game.
“Lady Luck eluded us. We played well against chicken Inn but we just failed to get a goal which was required and then they were also lucky to get a goal during the run of play.
“But after that game, we went back to the drawing board, since that was our first competitive game after eight weeks of pre-season. We regrouped early and see the result now, 2-0 against herentals. We beat a very good team; they are very competitive.
“You could see in terms of our game plan. We build up from the back but because of their high pressing they managed to hold us but eventually, we ended up getting the edge,” said Matongorere.*