The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has cleared the air on the delayed start of the match between Dynamos and Shabanie Mine at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday.
Referee of the day Norman Matemera, working under instruction from match commissioner Brighton Mudzamiri, started the match 30 minutes late, saying it was a request from the home team Dynamos, who wanted all their supporters to make way into the stadium.
The decision raised a lot of ire from a section of some impatient fans and the Shabanie Mine coach Luke Masomere who went on to suggest it was an underhand plan to give Dynamos an unfair advantage.
However, PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele yesterday said there was nothing sinister about the delay of the match.
“There was nothing unusual about the delay. The match commissioner is the organiser of the match. In this case Mudzamiri was the organiser of the match so if he felt that there was danger of commotion outside the stadium, then under Fifa rules, he has power to delay the start of the match. He applied the rules well. Fifa allows him to start the match when he feels the situation inside and outside the stadium is calm, which he did,” said Ndebele.
Dynamos won the match 2-0 courtesy of strikes from Denver Mukamba and on-fire striker Cuthbert Malajila who scored his second goal in as many matches.
The win revived Dynamos’ slim hopes of clinching the title under the nose of the leading pair of Motor Action and FC Platinum.
The Harare giants are now in third position with 36 points, just five points shy of the log leaders who cancelled each other to a goalless draw at Mandava Stadium on Sunday.
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What makes the league matrix more interesting is the fact that Dynamos still have to play Motor Action and FC Platinum, two games that will surely have a big bearing on the destiny of the title at the end of the season.
But before Dynamos can even think about the FC Platinum and Motor Action games, their immediate task will be to beat a rejuvenated Gunners on Sunday.
Gunners, who were swimming in the relegation waters at the start of the season, have surprisingly hit a rich vein of form ever since Moses Chunga took over as coach last month.
Chando Kupisa have not tasted defeat in their last eight matches, winning five to move into seventh position on the table.
“It will be a match pitting two teams in form, so the better prepared team will win that one,” said Dynamos assistant coach Tichaona Diya ahead of the match this weekend.
“The match is very tricky, but our players know what is expected of them in such a big game. It’s one match we have to win at all costs if we still have any ambition of winning the championship. We have to keep our concentration levels high and collect as many points as possible and who knows, we might sneak it, we are in a very good position at the moment,” added Diya.
The goalkeeper’s coach, the only survivor of the recent winds of change that swept away coach Lloyd Mutasa and his technical team, also spoke about the team’s recent revival.
“There is not much that has changed at the club. We are still using almost the same players that Lloyd Mutasa was using, but naturally when a new coach comes in he adds some new ideas into the system and for Pasuwa it has worked very well. The coming in of Cuthbert Malajila has also added a new dimension in the team. He has been training with us since he came back from Libya and his presence in the team is a good motivation. He is a good striker every team in the league would wish to have in their books,” added Diya.
