Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
VICTORIA Falls Tigers defender Lethukuthula Mathe faces a lengthy ban for assaulting referee Bekezela Makeka during his team’s 0-1 loss to Amagagasi in a Southern Region Division One League match on Sunday.
Mathe went berserk and punched Makeka several times for showing him red card for a crude tackle on an Amagagasi player.
The attack was captured on video and is trending on social media platforms. Mathe is the second player in the First Division to assault a referee within a week after Artwell Nyoni of Technosphere reportedly attacked referee Mhaka Magare during his team’s 0-1 loss to Amagagasi last week.
Zifa Southern Region chairman Musa Mandaza, who watched the Victoria Falls derby and witnessed the despicable incident, said he was worried about the level of indiscipline creeping into the league.
He said “stern measures” would be taken against Mathe and Victoria Falls Tigers officials that incited the violence.
Nyoni will also face Zifa Southern Region’s wrath.
“We can’t tolerate uncouth behaviour in our league and what I witnessed in the Victoria Falls derby between Amagagasi and Victoria Falls Tigers is uncalled for. We are going to take stern measures against the players involved, as well as officials that I saw inciting.
“We’re waiting for the referee and match commissioner’s reports so that we act accordingly and deal with these bad elements of the game which tarnish the image of football,” Mandaza said.
Mathe and Nyoni are likely to join the footballers’ “bad boys” list that has, among others, former Masvingo United goalkeeper Muzondiwa Gonese and the ex-Hwange duo of Ozias Sibanda and Alick Nyoni, who were banned for life for assaulting referees.Victoria Falls Tigers’ manager Joe Manyange seemed to condone his player’s actions.
“He never beat up the referee. They fought. I won’t comment on that issue, go to Amagagasi and get a comment from them,” said Manyange. Meanwhile, Amagagasi’s victory pushed them to position three from four with 41 points from 20 games.
They trail leaders Bantu Rovers, who recovered from a 2-3 loss to Talen vision in a mid-week encounter to clobber Hwange Juniors 5-0 at the Colliery Stadium at the weekend, by six points. Rovers are on 47 points from 21 matches.
Second-placed Bulawayo Chiefs ensured they stay on Rovers’ back by posting a hard-fought 1-0 win over Casmyn while third-placed ZPC Hwange slipped to fourth following a 0-3 drubbing by Bosso 90.
Southern Region Division One Soccer League Results;
Saturday: Talen Vision 2-1 ZRP Hwange, Bulawayo Chiefs 1-0 Casmyn, Indlovu Iyanyathela 0-1 ZRP Bulawayo Province, Technosphere 0-0 Makomo, Ntabazinduna 1-1 Black Boots, Hwange Juniors 0-5 Bantu Rovers
Sunday: Victoria Falls Tigers 0-1 Amagagasi, Bosso 90 3-0 ZPC Hwange
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Amagagasi v Black Boots (Victoria Falls), ZRP Hwange v ZRP Bulawayo (Hwange)
Table
P W D L F A GD Pts
Bantu Rovers 21 15 2 4 40 9 31 47
Bulawayo Chiefs 21 13 5 3 30 11 19 44
Amagagasi 20 12 5 3 24 8 16 41
ZPC Hwange 21 10 9 2 20 12 8 39
Talen Vision 21 8 5 8 21 24 -3 29
Technosphere 21 8 8 5 11 15 -4 29
ZRP Bulawayo 20 7 7 6 17 14 3 28
Victoria Falls Tigers 21 8 4 9 18 19 -1 28
Bosso90 21 7 6 8 25 22 3 27
Black Boots 20 6 8 6 23 18 5 26
Casmyn 21 4 9 8 17 19 -2 21
Indlovu Iyanyathela 21 6 3 12 14 25 -11 21
Ntabazinduna 21 4 9 8 11 24 -13 21
Makomo 21 4 8 9 9 16 -7 20
Hwange Juniors 21 3 8 9 8 21 -13 18
ZRP Hwange 20 2 3 15 11 42 -31 9
@ZililoR.