The ManicaPost
ESTEEMED followers of the game of football, thank you for finding time for interaction. The last match of the Chibuku Super Cup will be played this weekend in the final between How Mine and Harare City, a competition which had its fair share of controversy.
The opening set of fixtures of the tournament was fraught with unsporting behaviour as Chicken Inn walked off the pitch in protest over a late penalty against Yadah Stars, while the quarter-final match between Shabanie Mine and CAPS United was abandoned following crowd trouble. Both the Gamecocks and Green Machine were fined and expelled from the tournament, with Chicken Inn incurring the additional punishment of banishment from participating in next season’s competition.
The semi-finals, however, were free of drama; perhaps owing to that they were battles fought on fraternal feelings between two cities and two mines as How Mine knocked out Shabanie Mine, while Harare City eliminated Bulawayo City to advance to the finals.
Now, for the competition’s climax may the two finalists lead us not into the fracas previously witnessed, but deliver us from that acrimony of the off-field hostilities. Ridding this game of any controversy that brings the competition into disrepute and batter the reputation of the sponsors while soiling the game’s soul will ensure that the battle is fought and won on the field in a fair contest.
Whether the cup will go to the city or the mine, the best team on the day should prevail. Referees must also not be merchants of any machinations whose complicity with atrocious officiating will strangle this game. Even as this tournament is associated with beer, we need not render our game and stadia a drunken brawl in a bar.
Chibuku is the favourite brew for Yours Truly from our friends of the game and benefactors Delta Beverages and, as per the catch-line of this Chibuku brand from bygone years “Hari Yemadzisahwira (a brew for sincere friends)”, and we here at Friday Football Echoes are invoking and exhorting that spirit to define this game.
Cheers to a sober Chibuku Super Cup final!
Feedback:
As we go into the last three games of the season, I have made a very interesting observation: teams that are backed by corporate (business or commercial) entities are doing well. The only team in the Top Four which does not enjoy corporate support is Dynamos.
Besides having great players and a good coach, a modern football team needs adequate resources. Who knows, with nine points to play for, the championship might land outside Harare. – Tawanda Mhlanga.
Mapeza is right. The problem lies with the PSL. They should have taken steps to stop the disadvantaging of a team when results are already known by having all games played at the same time. Someone slept on duty or it exposes half commitment to duties. – CTM.
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