Wanderers lose appeal against punishments meted against them for causing abandonment of the Airtel Top 8 match
Mighty Wanderers, who challenged all four counts of the charge sheet which Football Association of Malawi (FAM) laid against them as regards to the abandonment of the Airtel Top 8 between the Nomads and Silver Strikers on September 23 that also led to violence, has lost the appeal.
A determination by competitions & marketing committee of Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has found the Nomads guilty to all counts laid against them right from the start of match abandonment; failure to prevent their supporters from displaying of unsporting behaviours and bringing the game of football and the name of the sponsor into disrepute contrary to Article 67 of the FAM Disciplinary Code.
The committee thus maintains after considering the nature of abandonment the match has been awarded to Silver Strikers at 2-0 despite that the referee ended the match at 2-1 — in line with the Rules and Regulations of the Airtel Top 8 competition.
For the actions of the supporters in their involvement or inciting violence a fine of K500,000 has been imposed or a ban as per the discretion of the Committee and a further K2 million fine for bringing the game of football into disrepute contrary to Article 13 (2) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
Meanwhile, Committee — that comprised Justice Jabbar Alide as chairperson; Williams Banda, Lameck Khonje, Raphael Humba, Isabel Kachinjika, Chimwemwe Nyirenda, Dumisani Ngulube and FAM general secretary Alfred Gunda — took advised as way forward that “there is need for football clubs, and all those involved in football, to be aware that football is governed by its own set of rules that must be respected”.
“The administration of the game is not governed by mainstream civil laws or adjudicated by recourse to court of law. Football must be run on its own rules and all parties involved in the game must adhere to these rules.
“Football matters are resolved by tribunals established under the football structures and not courts of law. Accordingly, football clubs, including its administrators must abide by the principles set in the game, and must desist from bringing unnecessary delays to the resolution of football related disputes through unnecessary technical objections premised on mainstream civil laws and not on the facts.
“The Committee further acknowledged the greater risk that this dispute may pose to this edition of Airtel Top 8 competition and possibly the future editions. It is in its mind doubtless that the delays occasioned in respect of scheduling of the return match may have a greater impact in the running of whole competition.”
The Committee has since rescheduled the Airtel Top 8 return match between the two teams to November 25 at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre from 14:30hours.
However, any party not satisfied with decisions has been allowed its right to appeal to the Disciplinary Committee within 48 hours of receiving this determination (as made on Wednesday, November 15) and upon fulfilling the conditions stipulated in Article 14.1 of the Rules and Regulations and all monetary fines to be paid within seven days from the date of the determination.
