The Maravi Post

LILONGWE--After cracking its whip on Moyale Barracks FC and referee Mabvuto Godoya for causing violent acts of hooliganism at Mzuzu Stadium last Saturday, the Super League of Malawi (Sulom) disciplinary committee didn't stop there—a meeting chaired by Sulom treasurer Tiya Somba Banda in Lilongwe on Monday also found Big Bullets Diverson Mlozi and Kabwafu FC’s Kondwani Banda guilty of fighting and subsequently slapped them with a two-match suspension each.

The incident occurred during Kabwafu FC and Big Bullets match on Sunday, September 9 at the same venue. According to the disciplinary committee’s findings, there was an off-the ball incident in the 74th minute of the game whereby Mlozi kicked. Banda retaliated by kicking back, but the referee cautioned Kondwani Banda only with a yellow card for unsporting behaviour.

In reference to Section 3, Article 77 (b) of Fifa Disciplinary Code 2012 which states that the disciplinary committee “is responsible for...(b) rectifying obvious errors in the referee’s disciplinary decisions”, it was determined that Mlozi was supposed to be given a red card for his unsporting act.

The committee, therefore, agreed to evoke Chapter 2, Section 2, Article 48 (d) of the Fifa Disciplinary Code 2012 which stipulates that any recipient of a direct red card shall be suspended at for least two matches “for assaulting (elbowing, punching, kicking etc) an opponent or a person other than a match official".

The committee determined that Mlozi should have been given a red card and therefore gave a two-match ban with effect from Monday 10th September 2012. It further found that the referee, Mabvuto Msimuko, was inconsistent with the Fifa Disciplinary Code as he did not caution Mlozi for unsporting behaviour. He also only cautioned Banda with a yellow card instead of a straight red for the unsporting behaviour.

The two players kicked each other, which is assaulting an opponent as stipulated in the Fifa Disciplinary Code 2012. The committee further expresses its concern to the National Referees Committee (NRC) on the standard of officiation and urges the NRC to ensure that referees are following the laws of the game to the fullest,” says the Sulom report, which was signed by Somba Banda on Wednesday.

The disciplinary committee also strongly reprimanded the acts of unsporting behaviour in the Super League.
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©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction without acknowledgment prohibited. 

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