Zimpapers Logo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
Zimbabwean referees have been omitted from a list of officials selected to handle the African Games, formerly All Africa Games qualifiers, which resume next weekend.Caf recently released a list of 71 officials from various African countries that will take care of the qualifiers for the Congo Brazzaville tournament set for September this year.

Zimbabwe referees committee vice chairman Wilfred Mukuna, while refusing to call it a snub, said the country is beginning to feel the effects of the match manipulation scandal that rocked the refereeing profession a few years ago.

“It takes long to right a wrong but we’ll soon be there too. We’re busy as the referees’ leadership cleaning up the mess that happened in the past and we remain positive that our efforts will soon yield results,” said the respected former referee.

He said Caf had the prerogative of choosing referees and when they do that a lot of factors are looked at before settling for final candidates.

“Why I refuse to admit that Caf has snubbed our referees is because we’ve our young men and women who are doing well in other Caf competitions like the Champions League and the Confederation Cup where Ruzive Ruzive was recently the centre man in the match between Orlando Pirates and Uganda Revenue Authority,” said Mukuna.

Bulawayo’s Salani Ncube was one of the officials in the match.