The continued acts of hooliganism in the Zambia Premier League leaves a lot to be desired especially for a country that prides itself as a giant in football.
The continued harassment of match officials and attack on team bus warrants stiffer punishments on fans to help curb this growing disease that is denting the image of our beautiful game.
The past weekend was a hive of activity as match officials in Chipata had to run for their dear lives to escape the wrath of irked Chipata City Council fans in the FAZ Eastern Province League when supporters wanted to vent their anger on the referee and his assistants for what they called biased officiating.
In Kitwe, referee Mathews Hamalila had to wait for over an hour for police to disperse an angry mob of Power Dynamos supporters who wanted a piece of him.
While that was happening, Maestro United Zambia (MUZA) found their windows shattered to one of their buses following this intense MTN Super League match.
These are just among some of the isolated cases that have dominated the Zambian League with our referees at the centre of the controversy.
Stiffer punishment, like the one given to Nkana, is what some of these clubs deserve for order to be restored in the league because this kind of lunacy and anarchy cannot be tolerated.
Nkana got banned for the incident that happened at Arthur Davis Stadium-the venue where Green Buffaloes had a case brought against them equally.
Thus there must be a problem with these Power fans who always get entangled in these acts of hooliganism.
FAZ had warned enough but it is time for the Disciplinary Committee to show its wrath and unleash the needed punishments on all the erring clubs, officials and supporters.
We need to restore order at the various stadia and continue attracting sponsors because of such acts continue, I doubt how clubs will be able to attract the much needed financial support they badly need.
No well meaning company wants to be associated with violence no matter how big or small the club is.
Clubs should create an atmosphere where parents can proudly go to a stadium with their kids and watch a football match unlike the situation now where hooliganism is at its best week in and out.
It was the same case sadly during the Zambia versus Congo Brazzaville FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers at the Levy Mwananwasa Stadium where the behaviour of fans left a lot to be desired.
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One wonders now whether fans now go to watch the game with two objectives, one to get entertained and secondly to find a fault in match officials.
Violence does not solve anything but just makes the problem grow bigger with very painful consequences beyond their control.
It is also important for club officials and players to continue to abreast themselves equally with the latest trends concerning the laws of the game to avoid these confusions that continue to occur.
Many at times our referees may be accused of biasness when in actual fact it a matter that has to do with failure by players and officials to comprehend the latest changes in the laws of the game.
This is one exercise that needs to be ongoing to have the needed order between referees and players including officials.
FAZ should Act now and help bring back sanity into our beautiful game.
Kudo to the police in Chipata for arresting the culprits who were in the forefront of beating up referee Frank Phiri.
Have a wonderful sporting weekend and let us interact via email eliaschipepo@gmail.com
