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Sports Reporter
IT is getting hotter in the Northern Region Soccer League title race as the riveting contest has been blighted by ugly scenes of hoologanism and allegations of underhand maneuvers by some of the championship chasing sides.The ugly battle for promotion has sucked in referees, some of whom have been accused of biased officiating.
In the latest of the ugly scenes, Shamva Mine’s home game against MWOS was aborted in the 89th minute after the later had scored a disputed goal.

The Shamva Mine supporters had reportedly been agitated by the alleged biased officiating they had witnessed all afternoon, which was not helped by referee Never Dombo’s decision to award 12 minutes of his optional time when the teams were still deadlocked 0-0.
Dombo was accused of biased officiating in favour of log leaders MWOS.

MWOS are engaged in a very tight race for the title in which they are clinging to top spot ahead of second-placed Harare City, flamboyant Scottland and army side Black Rhinos.

There are fine margins in the quest for the sole NRSL ticket to the Premiership, with only four points separating MWOS (54) and fourth-placed Rhinos.

Shamva Mine are expected to be hauled before the NRSL disciplinary committee this week for the disturbances that led to the premature end of their match against MWOS.

Sources close to the goings on in the league indicated that the chasing pack are not amused with the manner in which the referees are handling their matches.

“There is a worrying trend in the way the referees are handling matches for the teams in the title race,” said the sources.
“Teams such as Harare City, Rhinos and Scottland want the NRSL and the ZIFA referees committee to pay close attention to the way games are being officiated.
“There is a belief that the clubs should allow the best performing team to win promotion and not the team that is capable of manipulating results.

“It seems there is a push by the referees to decide the outcome of the championship race, which is not professional.”

Should they be awarded the result of the abandoned match, MWOS would have gained three points and a 3-0 winning margin than the 1-0 they could have secured had the match not ended prematurely.

On their part, Shamva Mine will not only lose points but might be fined heavily as the NRSL does not condone crowd trouble and the assault of match officials.
The league’s race is expected to continue with another round of mid-week games tomorrow and Thursday.

The spotlight will once again fall on the matches involving MWOS, Harare City, Scottland and Rhinos, with the quartet set to enjoy home advantage in their respective assignments.