The ManicaPost
. . .as Yadah, Buffaloes clash
Ray Bande Senior Sports Reporter
MUTARE football fans will be in for a treat when table topping Yadah FC and Buffaloes lock horns in a potentially enthralling and emotional Eastern Region Division One top of the table clash at Sakubva Stadium on Sunday.
Three points separate the two teams at the summit of the table after a boardroom decision to award log leaders Yadah three points from the abandoned match against Surrey.
Technically, the match might leave Yadah with less pressure if they get three points, but the game might also set the race for the title headed for the wire if Buffaloes, the home team, wins.
Yadah bounced back on top of the Zifa Eastern Region Division log after a boardroom decision to award Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries-bankrolled team three points from the abandoned match against Surrey.
Yadah FC were once again embroiled in match officiating chaos recently after their league match against Surrey was abandoned in the 93rd minute with both teams tied two-all.
The match was abandoned after referee, Edward Mucharambeyi, awarded a penalty to Yadah FC in the 93rd minute.
This did not go down well with Surrey players who protested against the referee’s perceived diabolical decision leading to the abandonment of the match.
However, Eastern Region secretary, Simba Wisdom, confirmed that Yadah were awarded the three points after the committee which deliberated on the matter found Surrey guilty of causing the abandonment of the match.
“We deliberated on the matter last Saturday and we awarded three points to Yadah FC after we found Surrey guilty of causing the abandonment of the match.
“We had all the parties represented during the deliberation. The match commissioner, the match officials and two representatives from each of the clubs in question were present. The laws are clear and any team that causes abandonment of matches faces the music hence the decision to award Yadaha three points,” said Wisdom.
The Prophetic Healing Deliverance Ministry-bankrolled team, a surprise inclusion in the Eastern Region Division One League at the start of this season, is not new to match officiating controversy after match officials who handled a number of their league matches were assaulted following accusations of influencing results in their favour.
Our sister publication, H-Metro has it on good authority that the match officials who handled the match pitting Yadah FC and Mutoko were manhandled after they allegedly helped the PHD-bankrolled team collect maximum points, thanks to a highly questionable 2-1 triumph.
Yadah were once again at the centre of a biased match officiating storm after match officials who handled their match against Masvingo City Dortmund were manhandled for allegedly ensuring that Yadah wins AT ALL COSTS by a solitary goal.
