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Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIFA Referees Committee vice-chairman Gladmore Muzambi has once again lashed out the violence being perpetrated on his members, with Northern Region Division One outfit Blue Swallows being the latest culprits following their attack on referee Yuda Mutavanga.

This comes just two weeks after the Premiership Battle of Zimbabwe was called off after 43 minutes, following scenes of violence at Barbourfields that included an attack on assistant referee Thomas Kusosa.

The PSL have since reserved judgment on the matter. Yesterday Muzambi and his committee began grappling with reports that Blue Swallows team manager Wonderful Ronin and some of the Manyame airmen’s supporters had attacked Mutavanga who took charge of their game against Herentals.

Herentals, who won the match 1-0, are also set to face ZIFA sanctions for providing inadequate security at their home game at the National Sports Stadium B arena on Thursday.

While both the Northern Region leadership and the ZIFA Referees Committee indicated they would take official positions on the matter upon receiving the relevant reports, the region’s secretary-general Sweeney Mushonga and Muzambi were not amused by the attack on the match official and the recurrence of violence.

“We are taken aback that there are people who still think they can take matters into their hands and beat up a referee to challenge his decisions.

“That is barbaric and if we are not careful we will lose lives.

“Beating up a referee doesn’t change the result. . .it will still stand and the culprits will be brought for a disciplinary hearing.

“However, I cannot discuss much on what really transpired in this particular incident because I am still to see the referee’s report as well as all the other reports. “But with or without reports, people just need to refrain from violence. “It is also high time that clubs educated their players and officials about the need to respect the laws and follow proper procedures to air grievances and I hope the penalty for this kind of violence will be deterrent,” Muzambi said.

Mushonga noted with regret the events at the National Sports Stadium on Thursday afternoon and said his executive would not brook any excuses from the two clubs.

The Northern Region official said teams in his league needed to be exemplary and behave professionally as they were aspiring to play in the Premiership. “We are yet to receive report of what transpired but we regret the events of what took place at the match between Herentals and Blue Swallows and we will not take any excuses from both parties.

“Violence should not be tolerated at any football match. “Our rules and regulations are also very clear when it comes to crowd trouble in terms of controlling players, officials and fans and no one can excuse any of these stakeholders for engaging in violence,” Mushonga said.

Mushonga said although he was yet to see the reports, he was concerned about the possibility of inadequate security having been provided by the home side for the game despite its high profile nature by Division One standards.

“We set a minimum standard of four place details per game but we have also been clear that we are not using a one-size fits all approach when it comes to the number of police details who should be deployed.

“So it can be four or more and we are obviously disappointed that a top of the table clash can be marred by such incidents of violence especially when you take into consideration that any of the two teams that were in action could be playing in the Premier Soccer League next year. . .what sort of image are we portraying of the Division One league?’’

Mushonga was also not amused by the involvement of team officials in violent protests against match officiating. “Increasingly we are noting incidents of crowd trouble emanating from team officials which sets a bad precedent for the fans and that has to come to an end.

“We will apply our rules to the end when we deal with these matters so that we do not disrupt our league as we want all our matches to be determined on the pitch,” Mushonga said.

The Northern Region leadership should in seeking a lasting solution to such incidents in their league, also need to question the coincidence of Herentals’ presence in matches that are marred by violence.

Last year, Herentals were curiously the common denominator as their matches against Commando Bullets and Black Rhinos were also characterised by incidents of violence.