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Ngqabutho Moyo Sports Reporter
CASTLE Lager Premier Soccer League chief executive officer Kenny Ndebele yesterday produced evidence that proves Highlanders’ innocence in the Charles Sibanda Golden Boot saga.The PSL also comes clean as the blame has since shifted to the referees.

Ndebele produced an official referees’ report that robbed Sibanda of one of his goals scored against Black Rhinos that was credited to Hillary Madzivanyika.

Madzivanyika yesterday said he never scored a goal for Highlanders this past season, something that his club and manager’s goals register support. This was a day after Bosso came for some heavy lashing from the PSL chief executive officer.

Ndebele said that PSL is a professional organisation and follows the referees’ reports when making decisions concerning the awards.

“We’re a professional organisation and most of our decisions about fines, goals and cautions are guided by the reports we get from the referees,” he said.

The match report record states that Gabriel Nyoni levelled the scores in the 58th minute after Black Rhinos had taken the lead in the first half from a Lincoln Saramaya goal on the 45th minute while Bosso’s winning two goals came from Madzivanyika on the 66th minute and Sibanda closing the score card on the 81st minute.

According to a Chronicle Sport write up on the following day, Madzivanyika did not score any goal, something that was supported by other media houses.

When contacted for comment Madzivanyika confirmed that he did not score any goal that afternoon and confirmed his teammate Sibanda had scored a brace and the other from Nyoni to colloborate the Bosso position and that of manager Willard Khumalo who takes such statistics.

The Rhinos game was played at Barbourfields Stadium on June 29.

Referees’ association spokesperson Tendai Bwanya said they would stick to the referee’s report that Sibanda scored one goal.

“We’re sticking to our referee’s report, nothing else,” said Bwanya.

After Bwanya was advised that Madzivanyika denied ever scoring for Highlanders, Bwanya then changed his tune and said the matter would be investigated.

Thembelani Sibanda confirmed that he was the referee of the afternoon but refused to comment on the issue.

Peter Dube, the Highlanders chairman, after producing letters dated as far back as July 15 drawing the PSL to Sibanda’s hattrick issue against Buffaloes after media reports had attributed Sibanda’s third goal to an own goal, felt the club and player had been hard done.

He said it was incorrect for the PSL to say he quiried the hattrick issue in Mutare after the match as he had not travelled to the Buffaloes tie. Bosso’s concerns arose when Sibanda was said to have scored a goal less in the list provided by the PSL yet their manager and club knew very well that he had scored two against Rhinos and the hattrick against Buffaloes.

Sibanda was forced to share the $3,000 top goalscorer award with How Mine’s Kuda Musharu.

“We communicated to PSL officially long back and they didn’t respond to our cases, PSL were negligent and they should accept that they play a role in this mess, Sibanda must be awarded the full package for his 13 goals,” said Dube.

Highlanders’ first letter was on July 15 after the player had in the first instance been reported to have scored two in Mutare. He said the Rhinos goals were never in contention as the match had been played on June 29 and up until the Buffaloes game, the goals had tallied on both ends.

Another one was on November 24, three weeks before the Soccer Star of the Year award night where Sibanda shared the prize with Musharu of How Mine.

Highlanders argue that had the hattrick been confirmed in July the Black Rhinos error made by the referee would have been picked up.

It could not be ascertained last night what the match commissioner of the match wrote.

The records given to Chronicle by the PSL were however not the original handwritten submissions that are signed by referees before submission.