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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Referees’ Committee has declared its members ready for the 2018 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season that gets underway this weekend with a full round of fixtures.

In a brief interview yesterday, vice chairperson of the committee Gladmore Mzambi said the whistle men and women were all ready and they were looking forward to a smooth flow in their tour of duty.

“After the season opening course where they were refreshed on current trends in modern officiating, our referees should be ready for a smooth takeoff,” said Mzambi.

He said all referees passed the mandatory Fifa physical fitness test except one referee (name supplied), who did not take the course due to medical reasons.

Last month the referees’ committee announced a raft of changes to the association’s administrative and technical structure, as it also declared zero tolerance on poor officiating that marred the local game in recent years.

One of the changes will see the setting up of a review committee of senior commissioners to look into reported cases of weak performances by referees bi-monthly.

“These reports of poor performance will be from match commissioners and even club complaints. We implore our clubs to make genuine complaints which will help improve our refereeing standards and eventually our game,” said Mzambi.

He said the referees will also be made to fill in integrity forms declaring that they will not take part in any match manipulation activities.

“These forms will help the referee recognise, refuse and report any form of match manipulation. Emphasis this year onwards will also be on quality, not quantity, and this has seen us reduce the panel of top referees to 54 from 72 the previous year.

“This will give the referees more game time, which we hope will also improve performance as well,” said Mzambi.

@skhumoyo2000