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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Referees Committee has suspended four Premiership referees since the start of the season due to incompetence. The move, it is claimed, is meant to bring sanity within their ranks as some members have been accused of influencing results. According to sources within the soccer referees, the officials that have been put on the ice include Ruzive Ruzive, Bekezela Makeka, female assistant referee Rudo Nanhanga and Bonamali Bwanali.

“There are a number of referees that have not been given any games after complaints were laid over their officiating standards. Ruzive is accused of having awarded Dynamos a dubious penalty against FC Platinum and since then he has not received any games. Nanhanga is said to have let Black Rhinos score from an offside position against Bantu Rovers with Makeka blamed for not giving Bantu Rovers a penalty against Highlanders while Bwanali’s case is to yellow-card almost the entire Caps United squad against Hwange for scaling a fence,” said the source.

Nanhanga’s case was when Bantu Rovers lost 0-1 at home to Black Rhinos and the match commissioner of the day is said to have highlighted her anomaly in the report. That game was played on April 5 at Luveve Stadium.

Ruzive was in the eye of a storm when he awarded a penalty to Dynamos in their match against FC Platinum at the National Sports Stadium on May 21 when striker Simba Sithole fell on his own inside the box in an attempted overhead kick. The match official pointed to the spot and the Harare giants emerged victorious through the spot kick.

Prior to the Dynamos-FC Platinum dramatic incident, Ruzive had awarded a ghost goal to Black Rhinos in their match against Chiredzi FC at Rimuka Stadium in April when it was crystal clear that the ball had not crossed the line. Chiredzi lost the match 2-1.

On July 27, Bekezela Makeka made a blunder denying Bantu Rovers a penalty when impressive winger Moses Majika was brought down in the box by Highlanders’ Dumisani “Fazo” Ndlovu but the Hwange based match official waved play-on. The game ended 0-0 at Barbourfields Stadium.

Another Hwange based referee, Bwanali is said to have erred in giving almost the entire Caps United team yellow cards for using an unsanctioned entry into the ground when they lost 1-2 to Hwange at the Colliery Stadium on August 7. According to a top referee, Bwanali was supposed to have let the Green Machine players scot-free and highlight the incident in his match report and allow the league to summon Caps United.

Responding to questions from Chronicle Sport on Friday, the ZRC vice-chairman Wilfred Mukuna confirmed that there were referees that had been suspended but could not be drawn into revealing their names.

“I’m not at liberty to say the names of people that have been suspended so that they get their act together but when a time comes to name them we shall do so. There are referees from the PSL and lower divisions. It’s an ongoing situation and those who don’t do well when given games will certainly be demoted. If you don’t follow laid down football rules we’ll definitely suspend you. We’re talking about the integrity of the sport and the organisation here and so if one decides not to implement himself or herself accordingly, then why should he continue officiating?

“The issue of refereeing is sensitive because it involves lives in the stadia and if we let match officials go unpunished for their unethical conduct then what are we promoting. It’s not only the referees that are being suspended, even incompetent match commissioners are given the boot,” said Mukuna.
Meanwhile, there were complaints from other referees that there was a bias in terms of appointments of match officials.

It is said that Bulawayo based referees and those from Midlands Province were being given cup games which pay handsomely.
For a cup game, referees are paid $180 in the first round, $250 in the quarter-finals, $500 in the last four and $750 for officiating in the final.
For league games, the referee is given $180 with his assistants getting $150.

All these charges are exclusive of travelling allowances.
Responding to questions on how match officials are appointed, Mukuna said; “We look at logistics like travelling because we understand clubs have financial challenges and have a tendency of crying about expenses. The other issue that also influences selection might be the number of referees within a particular area as well so there’s a need to balance those factors.

“However, please note that if any allegations of appointments are brought up we seriously take them up and we encourage our members to highlight some of the anomalies that they might be seeing in their respective areas,” said Mukuna.

Other members of the ZRC are Zifa board member, John Phiri, who is the chairman, chief instructor Sabelo Maphosa, Ndaba Ncube the chief commissioner, Ernest Banda (chief fitness instructor).
Brighton Mudzamiri is the national co-ordinator and Edson Nkau is in charge of appointments.