In the realm of football, much like in politics, the glaring incompetence of football administrators is reaching new heights. The recent charade involves Silver Strikers falsely advancing to the Airtel Top 8 semifinals with two goals, a result of the Mighty Mukuru Wanderers’ boycott of the second leg match at Kamuzu Stadium on Wednesday.
The Nomads refused to participate, heeding their board of directors’ appeal to the football court. The appeal highlighted that the initial determination lacked fairness, attributing the issue to a referee’s erroneous decision during their first leg match with the bankers at Bingu National Stadium (BNS).
Before the appeal could be addressed, some absurd football administrators nonsensically scheduled the game for Wanderers against Silver Strikers. One must question the purpose of sports appeal tribunals if teams are compelled to play before their appeals are resolved.
Silver Strikers’ Head Coach, Pieter De Jongh, arrogantly labeled Nomads’ decision not to show up as bad, emphasizing the negative impact on football’s market.
“It is bad and this bears negative impact on the football of Malawi to abscond from the game as it dents the image of the country more especially on football sector. As a team, they were supposed to respect the rules of football,” said Jongh.
He insisted that despite the setback, they will press ahead, gearing up for their upcoming clash against Mafco on December 10 at BNS. He emphasized the need for meticulous preparation, cautioning that any negligence in readiness could lead to disappointing results against Mafco, given their roster of quality players.
Expressing frustration, the Nomads’ board criticized both the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions and disciplinary committees for overlooking the pivotal role played by the referee in the ongoing challenges. Consequently, they demanded the postponement of the game against Silver Strikers until a resolution is reached.
Gomezgani Zakazaka, FAM’s Competition and Communications Director, conveyed his disappointment with the Nomads’ no-show in an interview with Shire Times
“We do see this happening but not at this top level of the competition, when we are playing in the lower leagues, some of these things happened. We don’t expect that we are able to display such malpractice because such behaviors depress football in the country,” said Zakazaka.
