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Home / Pointless to protest against Namibia – ZIFA
Pointless to protest against Namibia – ZIFA
2017-07-27Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Windhoek-The technical staff of the Zimbabwean Warriors feel strongly that the third penalty converted by Namibia in the CHAN first round second leg shoot-out against Zimbabwe at Harare’s National Sports Stadium should have been disallowed. The Brave Warriors’ third penalty of their 5-4 victory against the Zimbabwe Warriors was taken by forward Dynamo Fredricks, but the Zimbabweans claim he first feinted (dummy-kicked) before taking the actual spot-kick, something they say is outlawed and illegal to do during shootouts. In his run-up to the penalty spot, Fredricks stylishly teased Zimbabwean goalkeeper Herbert Rusawu with a ruse, sending him the wrong way as he slotted the ball home in the opposite corner of the goal – a scenario the Zimbabweans feel amounts to pure feinting and some say that penalty should have been disallowed. Rusawu protested to the Swazi referee that he had been beaten by an illegal strike and his skipper Denis Dauda also joined in the protest, but the referee waved away the protesters and allowed the penalty to stand. Clearly not interested in off-the-field politics, Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) vice-president Omega Sibanda said they had not and do not plan to lodge any protest over the disputed penalty or claims by the Zimbabweans that Namibia used players still contracted to clubs in Botswana and South Africa. “I want to make it clear that we haven’t lodged any protest with CAF, because we were advised by our colleagues in Botswana and South Africa that the players were properly cleared to be registered by their home association (the Namibia Football Association), which made them eligible to play in the CHAN games,” Sibanda noted. “We enquired with our colleagues in Botswana and South Africa on Monday and were told the correct story, that the players had been duly cleared and were eligible to play for Namibia. I don’t know where these reports that we had filed a protest are coming from, it’s not true at all. “Even that penalty – which was controversial – we didn’t file a protest [over it] because it’s unlikely that the referee’s decision or the results will be changed, because he got it wrong. He can only be punished and then that will be the end of it,” Sibanda said. – Additional source: Herald Zimbabwe 2017-07-27Staff Report 2
