The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Sports Reporter
JUSTICE delayed is justice denied! Former Fifa panel referee and qualified Fifa referees’ instructor Kenny Marange has every reason to believe that he has been denied justice after being left in the cold for three years now owing to a suspension which he strongly believes came as a result of a diabolical way of doing things deep-seated at Zifa.
The former top referee was suspended on September 9 2011 and three years down the line, the multiple award-winning referee on the domestic scene has been tossed from one office to another with no respite in sight.
“The letter of suspension, which comes into effect as from 9th September 2011, is in accordance with Association’s constitution Article 31:10. You shall dully be served with copies of a detailed charge sheet and a notice of the hearing before the Zifa Ethics Committee,” reads Marange’s letter of suspension signed by the Zifa president Cuthbert Dube on September 12, the same year.
Since then, it has been a good three years and the country’s soccer mother body is yet to serve Marange with copies of a detailed charge sheet and a notice of the hearing before the Zifa Ethics Committee.
Ironically, Marange is one of the four former match officials who were fingered in this seemingly endless Asiagate scam but were all said to have no case to answer by the Zifa-appointed Ibrahim committee.
“Energy Murambadoro completely dissociated himself from the match fixing in Vietnam. WE MAKE NO FINDINGS AGAINST KENNY MARANGE, MASIMBA CHIHOWA, COSMAS NYONI AND CHRISTOPHER EMMANUEL.
“Although there are suggestions that the Jordan tour was fixed, we have no basis for making any findings against Dr Chakonda. We also make no findings against Solomon Makwavarara and Cyril Mukweva,” reads a paragraph in the Ibrahim Committee’s report under a section headlined “Other players and referees”.
Somehow, the Zifa administration still finds reason in keeping one of the finest referees the country has ever known on the sidelines and not even his input in the tutoring and development of young referees is needed at all.
In a no-holds-barred interview with the retired referee, Marange, who is a natural introvert and usually soft spoken, had no kind words for the Zifa administration, specifically its chief executive, Jonathan Mashingaidze, whom he branded a liability to the game.
The Mutare-based Fifa referees’ instructor said incessant attempts to seek audience with the Zifa president or the chief executive have ended in false pledges that the issue would be resolved quickly.
“Nothing has changed from the day I was suspended. I have been calling chief executive Mashingaidze and the president, but all I got were unfulfilled pledges that the issue would be finalised soon. In fact, the president has been a bit forthcoming, but Mashingaidze has been something else. For lack of better words to describe his conduct, he has been the worst thing that has ever happened to our football in Zimbabwe.
“I have written numerous letters and made numerous visits to their offices, but still I have been denied justice. The only response I always get is that ‘I saw your letter”.
“I even travelled to Harare when the elections were held in March. I congratulated the president when he retained his post and asked whether I could discuss my issue with him. He instructed me to come to him together with Mashingaidze. I ran around to look for Mashingaidze, only to see the president gone about 15 minutes later when I got hold of Mashingaidze.
“On that same day, together with Mashingaidze we then met with a guy called Mbanje, who normally conducts disciplinary hearings on behalf of Zifa. We agreed that I should call Mbanje the next Tuesday and by then he would have finalised the hearing date and all other logistics. That was that,” said an emotional Marange.
He said he now has every reason to believe that his seemingly endless suspension from mainstream football activities was personal.
Marange, who served as the Referees’ Committee chairperson upon being elected as Zifa vice-president in 2010, thinks he is being victimised for not having allowed local referees to officiate in a match in Kuwait after Mashingaidze had forwarded a request from Kuwait FA to have three referees officiate in a match involving Kuwait.
“I think this is all personal and meant to punish me for a professional decision that I made early in my tenure as a Referees’ Committee leader. Mashingaidze sent me a request from the Kuwait FA requesting the services of three referees in a match involving that country’s national team. The three were Ruzive Ruzive, Cosmas Chafa and Oswald Mukucha.
“I responded to Mashingaidze stating that the timing of the request was not in line with internationally acceptable time frames while the request itself should not have pointed out individual names of referees they wanted.
“If this was all above board, the Kuwait FA could have simply requested for referees from our football association and we as a committee would then appoint the referees that we deemed fit for that particular match.
“However, it appears Mashingaidze had other interests apart from professionally acceptable standards. Apart from that I could also be made to suffer for speaking my mind each time we had board meetings during that year I served as the vice-president,” said Marange.
He said he felt he still had a lot to contribute towards the development of football in this country, with particular interest on his chosen field of match officiating.
Ironically, one of the country’s finest match officiating experts is being sidelined from any football-related activities at a time when the standards of refereeing are deteriorating.
“I just want to be part of the football family once again. Football runs in my blood. If this was a way of punishing me for that good decision I made, I think “I have suffered enough.
“At least if they can make me go through the hearing process, I would be glad,” he said.
