Trust Rukwava
Centre News Sport Hub
Mucheke Stadium- The Masvingo Mayor’s Cheer fund Charity Cup between Masvingo United FC and FC Wangu Mazodze had a false end after it was abandoned when FC Wangu Mazodze walked out of the pitch midway into the second half much to the chagrin of soccer fans who had paid to watch the game.
Mazodze walked out in protest of the referee’s decision to red card their Captain, Lucky Itimu for complaining to the referee over opponents fouls which went unpunished.
Fans who packed the ceremonial home of football in the city were left frustrated and fumed over the conduct of controversial Wangu Mazodze FC once again.
“We are not amused at all, this is not what we paid for we wanted to enjoy the full match but the game came to a premature end due to the conduct of Wangu Mazodze players, if they were not happy they were supposed to play until the last minute then lodge their complain to relevant soccer authorities,” said Wurayai Mangwiro a local soccer fan.
FC Wangu Mazodze dominated the early exchanges and took the lead as early as the 7th minute through a Solomon Banka goal.
Una Una tried to pull an early comeback but FC Wangu were more compact.
With barely 20 minutes into the game Una Una were breached once again as FC Wangu doubled their lead.
Masvingo United laboured and grabbed a consolation goal courtesy of an Albert Zvavarungu strike before half time.
The evenly contested local derby went to half time with FC Wangu in the driving seat leading 2-1.
The second half saw the local foes returning rejuvenated seeking to kill off the game.
Una Una created a fair share of chances and so did their counterparts but goals remained elusive.
The turning point came in the 59th minute when Kingdom boys captain was red carded.
Tensions escalated as FC Wangu Mazodze walked off the pitch protesting the center referee’s decision and they never returned to finish off the remaining thirty minutes leading to the abandonment of the match.
FC Wangu Mazodze spokesperson Courage Kandira apologised to the Mayor and fans following the unfortunate incident.
“It was a very unfortunate incident and we apologise to the Mayor and our supporters for what transpired. We know our supporters came in numbers to cheer the team in support of the great initiative by His Worship the Mayor, however, not justifying the events that followed, we also as a club feel that the appointment of one of the match officials was a grave mistake as he has a sour relationship with the club which affected the day through his poor officiating,” Kandira said
He added that biased officiating spoiled the beautiful game across the world and many at times match officials are banned for poor officiating.
“Incidences of teams walking away is common but as a club we apologise to all stakeholders, and we remain in support of the Mayor’s initiatives in future.” said Kandira.
Masvingo United FC spokesperson Omen Mafa was not immediately available for comment as he was hard pressed with other work commitments by the time of going to print.
Efforts to get a comment from the Mayor, Alec Tabe were also fruitless.
