CECIL Gwezera, the man who was at the centre when Simba Bhora hosted Highlanders in a Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final match at Wadzanayi stadium in Shamva on Sunday, has also received his marching orders.
On Monday the media got hold of a letter suspending Zondzi Ngosana who was one of the two assistant referees to Gwezera in the abortive match.
The encounter came to a premature end after Bosso walked off in protest against Gwezera's decision to award Simba Bhora a penalty.
Highlanders argued that the incident that triggered the penalty decision happened outside the box and video footage also confirmed that the impediment on Tinashe Balakasi by the visitors' Peter Muduhwa had taken place way off the 18-yard line.
Balakasi, however, fooled the match officials by rolling into the box after he clashes with Muduhwa.
Investigations by Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday established that Gwezera had been suspended bringing the number of sanctioned officials this year to 20.
Of the 20 referees suspended across the country's venues, three incidents have been from Wadzanayi.
As of Sunday, before the high-profile Chibuku Super Cup game between Simba Bhora and Bosso, 18 officials had been suspended for poor officiating since the season began, 11 of them in as many opening weeks of the term.
ZIFA Referees Committee chairman Norman Matemera refused to comment on whether Gwezera had been suspended.
It has however, emerged that just like his assistant Ngosana Gwezera had handed a six-month suspension for his grave error after it was established that he was found wanting on two aspects of officiating -- "proximity to the incident and angle of viewing."
"As a body, we do not, as a policy, comment on such issues. That is how it is, no comment, sir," was Matemera's response when asked about their action on the two referees, whose awarding of the controversial penalty led to the fierce Bosso protests and eventually resulted in the abandonment of the game. Last Sunday's incident has heightened the need for Zimbabwe to embrace the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to help determine the veracity of all close calls.
A retired referee said the match could have been saved if the match commissioner had discreetly sought video evidence of the incident and discussed it with the two officials.
"The match could have been saved with the referee correctly awarding that team a free-kick outside the box and sending off the Highlanders defender for denying an obvious scoring opportunity.
"I am surprised that Gwezera did not exercise his authority by demanding that Ariel Sibanda go to the Bosso goal for the penalty to be taken. If he was adamant that he would not take his position, Gwezera should have issued him a first yellow card, and after that a second that would have seen him leave the pitch.
"He would have waited then to see the Highlanders' reaction whether they would bring on another goalkeeper to replace Sibanda.
"Perhaps he feared that he had already erred and hence could not take further action," said the referee who requested anonymity.
Matemera defended his committee's actions of suspending him without the disciplinary committee process.
"It is situational. If the video footage is sufficient, we use it, at times we rely on the match commissioners' reports.
"We act quietly. So many referees have been punished and we now have 20 that we have dealt with this year either through commissioners' reports or video and television footage which we deem suitable," Matemera said.
Matemera confirmed that the referees who were in charge of Simba Bhora's Premiership match against Hwange at the same venue where a corner kick was taken with Wellington Muuya on the ground after a foul on him and the eventual goal allowed to stand, had been punished.
The second incident involved Simba Bhora against visiting GreenFuel before last Sunday's Chibuku Super Cup encounter between the Premiership log leaders and Highlanders.
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Matemera said his committee wanted good game management and promotion of Fair Play and that they would continue to act decisively without fear or favour on errant officials.
The ZIFA Referees' boss, however, appealed to fans and players to respect referees. He said he was disappointed to note that their members were not insured yet cases of abuse on referees were on the increase. In the Northern Region Soccer League, a referee claimed he had been assaulted recently while officiating the Divi-sion One game between Karoi United and Scottland at Chikangwe.
"Our members are not insured, we would like to see increased security and we appeal to the corporate sector to consider insurance for them," added Matemera.
The Castle Lager Premiership race has been marred by accusations that some clubs are corrupting match officials into manipulating the outcomes of games, with poor clubs suffering and among them traditional giants Dynamos and Highlanders.
