Chiyangwa blames referees for violence

• Published date: 22 August 2016
• Publication title: The Sunday News

ZIFA president and referees committee chairman Philip Chiyangwa has blamed poor officiating for violence that has erupted at football matches in recent months. Chiyangwa said he will hold a meeting with all referees tomorrow in Harare to stem the rot adding that he will use the 'crisis' meeting as the starting point of restoring normalcy in local refereeing.

'I have called a crisis meeting on Monday with all the referees and I want to tell them to get their act together. We would not be having this problem of violence if referees were officiating well at games. There has been poor officiating and it is time it comes to an end,' said Chiyangwa.

Local football had been operating without a referees committee for the better part of the year following the ejection of Edzai Kasinauyo after match fixing accusations and the failed dissolution of Zifa and the aborted formation of Nafaz also compounded the situation.

PSL took over the appointment of referees after the failed dissolution of Zifa, and it is now being done by a Zifa staffer. Several teams have been raising complaints over poor officiating...