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Lovemore Dube, [email protected]

THE Zifa Referees Committee chairperson Norman Matemera yesterday said they would continue to lobby authorities to bring VAR to the country.

There is an increase of complaints on how matches have been officiated, just five matches into the 2024 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign.

He made this call following an uproar over the handling of some matches.

Two Sundays ago, Hwange felt hard done when a corner kick was taken while their goalkeeper had seemingly been pushed to the turf by a Simba Bhora player.

As he lay on the ground, the kick was taken and the home team scored from that incident and referee Edward Mucharabei and his second assistant Progress Chatsama awarded a goal.

Hwange’s pleas fell on deaf ears as they went on to lose 2-0.

“We are going to continue to appeal to authorities to bring VAR to the country, to assist in match management,” said Matemera.

He said video footage showed that the kick had been taken while the player was on the ground. 

He said rules say once the goalkeeper in on the ground, play cannot continue.

“If the goalkeeper is feigning injury or has or has been pushed down, play has to be stopped,” said Matemera, who emphasized that errant referees will be dealt with accordingly, to protect the game’s integrity.

Chicken Inn also cried foul on how they were treated in Mutare, where they lost to Jairos Tapera 1-0 and almost half a dozen players picked up yellow cards that the Bulawayo side felt were not justified.

On the two contentious matches played over the weekend in Harare and Zvishavane, where a lot of flak has been staked on the referees who were in charge, Matemera said the match officials made the right calls.

He said prior to scoring, there were some offside rule infringements and his man on the field had been spot on.

In a match played in Zvishavane on Saturday, assistant referee Mncedisi Maphosa ruled out Caps United’s goal against FC Platinum in the 86th minute, after the visitors’ goal creator received the ball in an offside position before squaring in for Ralph Kawondera to finish off beautifully.

Juan Mutudza’s opener also appeared to have an infringement of the offside rule and the home team rode on luck as the referees did not blow. But replays suggest otherwise.

On Sunday, Sam Mahachi appeared on spot to raise the flag after a freekick Dynamos had scored against Bulawayo Chiefs at Rufaro.

A freekick was flighted into the box and a Dynamos player who was on the far end beyond the defence lines when the kick was taken, nodded the ball into play and defender Kelvin Moyo appeared to have given Dynamos the lead.

Shadreck Nyahwa is the player who was in the alleged offside position.

Matemera last night said his colleagues were spot on, on the two disallowed goals. He implored coaches and clubs to regularly re-visit rules as they change every year. He said it was unfortunate that teams were now seemingly using referees as cover for their failure to deliver.

“It is not fair for coaches and clubs to blame match officials for their failure to score or win. It is not fair to crucify us every time teams lose,” said Matemera.