FAM warms Malawi whistlemen: Ngoleka, four other referees suspended

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) Sub-Committee has suspended some top Malawian referees for commiting various range of errors that have been astonishingly bad and have left many wondering whether they indeed know the laws of the game.

The suspended referees are FIFA referees Leo Ngoleka, Dennis Ngulube, Aziz Nyirenda, Andy Kuseli and Jones Chimeza.

After thorough investigations and scrutiny, the Sub-Committee found Ngoleka guilty of making a technical blunder in a game played on 5^th October at the Civo Stadium involving Epac FC and MTV Max Bullets.

Ngoleka awarded home side a goal after he had already blown the whistle for a free kick after an Epac player was brought down in a counter attack move.

This forced Max Bullets who were leading 1-0 to protest and later walked out of the pitch leading to the abandonment of the game.

Max Bullets was later fined K1 million for causing abandonment and indiscipline a development that led to the announcement by the owner of the club Maxwell Kapanda that he has pulled out of the flagship league.

This has led to Ngoleka been slapped with a five months ban without officiating any game.

His ban has been extended to international matches and he will miss his trip to South Africa where he was expected to officiate at the COSAFA Under 20 nations tournament.

Northern Region based referee Aziz Nyirenda has also been banned for two months without officiating any game for failing to award Mafco a clear penalty in their game against Moyale Barracks after Mtopijo Njewa clearly handled the ball in the box according to the Sub-Committee.

Surprisingly, Aziz red carded Joseph Donsa for attacking him.

Mafco protested but he stood to his decision forcing Mafco to walk out of the field and the game ended prematurely.

Andy Kuseli who officiated Azam Tigers and Nyasa Big Bullets match has been banned for a month for failing to award Bullets a clear penalty in the dying minutes of the game as well as denying Azam Tigers a goal which the assessment team believe it was a genuine goal.

Jones Chimeza who was Assistant referee during the match has been handed a two months ban on the same.

Finally, another respected FIFA referee Dennis Ngulube who was the centre referee in the Carlsberg Cup final involving Mighty Be Forward Wanderers and Silver Strikers at the Kamuzu Stadium has been slapped with a five months ban.

Ngulube reportedly complained he was having stomach pains mid-way into the second half and could not continue officiating the game.

He then exchanged with Azizi Nyirenda who was the match commissioner who finished the game.

According to the Sub-Committee, Ngulube proceeded to be the fourth official after handing over the responsibility of centre referee and showed no sign of being in pain after wards and behaved normally.

Meanwhile, the Sub-Committee has warned all referees that are not serious with their job that they will face the chop.

A committee of assessors will be present in all the stadiums to monitor each and every game.

“We will not tolerate few people to spoil football in Malawi. We are serious to end match fixing and corruption in football as we have also incorporated with Anti-Coruption Bureau (ACB). We will be having call logs both from Airtel and Tnm to see who the referees have been talking to prior to games,” said a Fam official.

He also urged all supporters to avoid confronting or beating up referees in all the leagues that are played in the country.

This season, referees have made it more difficult for those who defend them from inevitable criticism due to rampant shocking decisions made.

This has led to violence from either supporters or players in the field of play which is a threat to sponsorship.

Clubs have also suffered most as they have paid huge sums of money as fines from irresponsible and unsportsmanship behaviour acts that could have not happened if the referees were discharging their duties accordingly.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!