BY TERRY MADYAUTA Veteran gaffer Moses Chunga has launched an attack on local football referees, who he says are biased towards certain teams.
Chunga’s Chapungu played out a 2-all draw against TelOne at the weekend and they failed to close the gap on Central Region Division One log leaders Sheasham.
Though the competition is still in its infancy, tempers and accusations are already flaring between the top contenders in the race for promotion.
Sheasham, TelOne and Chapungu are locked in a race for promotion to the topflight.
However, according to Chunga, there has been a lot of underhand dealings to sabotage his club while siding with his rivals.
The former Dynamos gaffer said his team has been robbed on several occasions due to bad officiating, citing their clashes against Sheasham and TelOne, as the most poorly-officiated matches for his team so far.
On Saturday, the Airmen settled for a share of the spoils in a 2-2 stalemate with TelOne, but Chunga felt his charges should have collected maximum points had the playing field been level.
“The playing field is not level. It’s like everyone has a team they want to be promoted. First level the playing field and we will talk football,” Chunga said.
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“Whichever team that is promoted must do so in a fair manner and then represent the City of Gweru, progressively.
“With this kind of officiating, I am not surprised why we don’t have officials at the [Africa Cup of Nations] Afcon. I haven’t complained about officiating until this time because this is bad. We have gone away and played, but honestly this is bad for our football.
“We have to go compete and represent this region with the right personnel, but if we are going to be assisted by referees in Division One, then it’s going to be the same relegation story when promoted into the [Premier Soccer League] PSL. You won’t be assisted in the PSL, we have seen that several times.”
The issue of poor officiating has been a bone of contention in the region.
Interestingly, all fingers are pointing at the Gweru-based teams in the league Sheasham and TelOne, which occupy first and second places, respectively.
In matches played over the weekend, log leaders maintained their two-point lead at the apex despite a 1-1 draw with Kwekwe United. TelOne and Chapungu drew 2-2 on Saturday to maintain second and third position, respectively.
Army side Tongogara drew nil-all with FC Platinum U19, while MSU lost 1-0 to Vumbachikwe.
ZPC Munyati drew 1-1 with Bishopstone, with Dulibadzimu beating Filabusi 2-1. The Zvishavane side picked their second win of the season when they edged Paramount 3-2 on Sunday.
- Follow Terry on Twitter @madyautatpm
