Malawi football teams beat up referees in Zomba
MK5 million Peter Mutharika Southern Region Football League (SRFL) sides Prison United and Machinga ADD allegedly beat up referees during their Premier Division matches on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
According to supplementary report submitted to SRFL by the Zomba District Referees Association on Wednesday, two officials and two players from Prison United beat up middle referee Mustafa Amidu and his assistant Chipiliro Chikhaula soon after their match against Thondwe United at Makoka Research Station ground on Saturday for alleged bias towards the home side.
Thondwe won the game by two goals to nil.
The following day at Zomba Community Centre ground, referee Austin Banda was also assaulted by a Machinga ADD official immediately after the final whistle in a match against Zomba United FC.
Zomba won the game 3-2 but Machinga officials alleged that the referee was biased towards the home side.
Banda was slapped on the left cheek whereas Amidu and Chikhaula were assaulted while they were about to transfer information from the players’ identity cards to the match report form.
The Prison United officials and players descended on the two hapless referees demanding their cards while others roughed them up in the process.
Speaking to Nyasa Times on Wednesday, fixtures secretary for the second-tier league Kingsley Simbeye confirmed having received the supplementary report on the two incidences and said a hearing for all concerned parties has been summoned on Friday at the BAT ground in Blantyre.
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