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NewsDay

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DeMbare strikers lodge appeals

Sport
DYNAMOS will have both Takesure Chinyama and Roderick Mutuma available for the Easycall Cup semi-final against Highlanders at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday after their club yesterday appealed against the duo’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) ban.

DYNAMOS will have both Takesure Chinyama and Roderick Mutuma available for the Easycall Cup semi-final against Highlanders at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday after their club yesterday appealed against the duo’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) ban.

BY HENRY MHARA

Chinyama and Mutuma were earlier this week slapped with a four-match ban each for violent conduct after their team’s 2-1 loss to Harare City in the Chibuku Super Cup final on October 31.

They were set to miss the Sunday match and probably the final next week in the event that their team progresses through.

However, they were given the greenlight to play against Bosso after the Dynamos leadership yesterday lodged appeals with PSL.

Dynamos had initially threatened to withdraw from the tournament, in protest at what they perceived as selective application of the law.

Rodreck Mutuma and Takesure Chinyama celebrate a goal 2

Dynamos secretary-general Webster Chikengezha said they had met with PSL chairman Twine Phiri and aired their grievances.

“We met with the PSL chairman. We had a two-hour meeting in which we laid down our grievances. He is attending to the issue. In the meantime, we have also lodged an appeal with the Premier Soccer League. We are now going to Bulawayo for the Easycall Cup semi-final against Highlanders pending the determination of the appeals,” Chikengezha said.

The players were found guilty by the PSL disciplinary committee of charging at referee Philani Ncube in a violent manner after their loss to Harare City.

Mutuma was said to be the more vocal and in the process, abused the referee, making references to the reasons why Zimbabwean match officials were fired from Cosafa.

In addition to the ban, the disciplinary committee ruled that the pair should pay a $1 000 fine each.

Chinyama and Mutuma trained with the rest of the squad at the National Sports Stadium yesterday and are expected to lead the attack when the team locks horns with their old foe.

Mutuma would be making a return to the squad after missing his team’s last few matches of the season through injury.

However, the team will still be missing a number of key players through injuries.

Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya, speaking to the media after the training session, said he would be travelling to Bulawayo without Sydney Linyama, Kelvin Bulaji, Stephen Alimenda, Obey Mwerahari and long-term casualty Artwell Mukandi.

But the absentees are not his biggest worry though.

“There is a record of violence each time we play against Highlanders at Barbourfields and we are afraid it will happen again,” Ndiraya said.

“And because of the violence, sometimes the match officials will not be fair particularly on us because of fear of violence. We are just hoping that those things will not happen and that we get a very level playing field and good officiating. We have suffered in the past few seasons from bad officiating and games of this magnitude would really need referees who are sober-minded and fair to both teams,” Ndiraya said.

He added: “There are a lot of factors there that determine the result. We are expecting a spirited performance from Highlanders, but equally so, they should expect the same from our side. We are coming on the back of a good run in both league and cup games, but that will count for very little.”

Dynamos have dominated Highlanders in both league and cup matches in recent years, especially at Barbourfields, and Ndiraya believes that will have a huge bearing on the two teams’ performances come Sunday.