Mukudzei Chingwere Sports Reporter
THE ZIFA referees committee is happy with the shift their officials have put so far this year in handling Premier Soccer League matches, with the association yet to receive a single official complaint from topflight teams. Ironically, the media has been overwhelmed by post match protest especially from coaches.
The referees committee this year set up the appeals committee for assessing the performance of their officials once in two months.
This committee which reviews the performance of referees through the evaluation of reports from match commissioners is again yet to find any bad performance by their members.
The referees’ boss Gladmore Muzambi said his committee has achieved an incredible milestone in their quest to handle matches fairly and making accurate calls.
“We are very happy by the work of our officials and I am happy to announce that there has not been any bad performance from our referees this year.
“We now have the appeals committee which reviews the work of officials and the good thing is that the committee is yet to see any bad performance by referees this year.
“What makes me very happy is that we are also yet to receive any single official complaint about our referees this year, I think that is a clear sign that we are doing very well,” said Muzambi.
“The first half of the season we performed very well and we are anticipating an improved performance in the second half of the season.
“Referees are aware that if they are found on the wrong side of the law by the committee they risk serious punishments.
“We told the referees about the consequences and I think that is the reason for this good performance,” he said.
“I know that there are some clubs who might feel hard done by certain calls but my advice to them is making official complaints so that we look into the issue.
“Clubs must not hesitate to appeal but they need to be factual when preparing their appeal it helps us a lot in the hearing of their case,” said Muzambi.
It is a big surprise however, that clubs who often complain about the level of officiating in this country are not making formal complains.
It remains unclear whether the decision by clubs against appealing is lack of confidence that they would get any recourse or whether it is influenced by lack of strong arguments against the match officials.