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Confusion over Civo/Eagles replay
By
Leonard Sharra - 24-04-2003 |
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There is total confusion over the K12m Carlsberg Cup rematch involving newly sworn-in Capital City giants Blue Eagles and Civo United with Fam giving different signals as to when the game will be replayed.
Initially the game was supposed to be replayed last Wednesday but Fam shifted it to yesterday due to the two Super League fixtures the servants were fulfilling in Blantyre over the Easter weekend.
But in another twist Fam’s Public Relations Officer Isabel Maziya said on Tuesday the game had again been pushed from yesterday to Saturday following the contribution of players to the national team camp training in Kasungu by both clubs.
The Eagles however, protested the rescheduling to Saturday, claiming they had already put their players in camp to prepare for the replay.
“We complained to Fam about the second change because we had already incurred expenses by sending our players to camp,” said Eagles team manager Kachikuwo.
Said Kachikuwo: “Civo had complained to Fam that they had three players in the national team but we argued with Fam that we had also contributed three players to the national team. Upon hearing our argument Fam treasurer Hubert Mfune indicated we might play the game on Thursday (today) and we are only waiting for his confirmation.”
Mfune confirmed having been approached by Eagles and indicating the game might be played today but he was quick to point out that it would be impossible to fix the game today.
“After consultations with our officials in Central Region, we feel the game cannot take place Thursday. But we are trying to verify whether the information that the teams have withdrawn their players from Kasungu to use them in the game is true. We will communicate to the teams about the final position,” said Mfune.
Asked why Fam was dancing to Civo’s tune knowing well the constitution only exempts clubs from games when they have contributed up to four players to the national team, Mfune said: “We have been failing to verify with the officials at Kamuzu Academy the number of players contributed by the two teams.”
Civo’s team manager Hardly Mumba said yesterday his club’s position was that the game will be played on Saturday at Nankhaka Stadium.
“We took what Maziya said because she is the one responsible for fixtures. We are playing Blue Eagles on Saturday and Silver on Sunday,” said Mumba.
The changes might have definitely brought confusion amongst most of the soccer fans in the Capital City. There were reports yesterday afternoon that some fans had started flocking to Area 30.
The two teams played a 2-all draw in their first encounter, which failed to go into extra time because of crowd trouble at Civo Stadium. Fans were not happy with the officiation by Fifa referee Velson Lwanja, whose officiation left a lot to be desired.
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