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| Sports |
| Controversy over Carlsberg final replay date |
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by
Garry Chirwa , 02 July 2003
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18:23:58
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Fam has come up with July 19 as the tentative date for the Carlsberg Cup final replay between sworn-rivals Bakili Bullets and MTL Wanderers which was called off in the second period of extra time last Sunday following a storm of protest over the nomads’ disallowed golden goal when the two sides were tied two-all.
The soccer governing body’s treasurer and head of competitions Hubert Mfune also said the final replay will be shifted to Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.
“We have set July 19 as the provisional date for the final replay in the capital but we are still looking at other technicalities. For example, Wanderers have appealed against the decision to reschedule the match. Certainly we have to examine their grounds of appeal and come up with a decision,” explained Mfune.
But the Bullets said in a separate interview that Fam’s tentative date for the replay will clash with their programme as they are supposed to fly out to the United Kingdom on July 13 for intensive training and friendly games.
The club’s vice treasurer Kondi Msungama said on Wednesday: “Definitely we cannot play the game on July 19 because we will be in the UK. In fact, we will be playing a friendly match against English League Third Division side Boston United on that day.
“I think the best thing would be to invite all the stakeholders to agree on an appropriate date. We certainly cannot start to change our UK programme, we have already made flight bookings and all that stuff,” said Msungama.
He also said the English clubs will not take them seriously if they ask to shift the dates of the matches.
“Our friends are very serious when it comes to planning, you can’t just wake up and then start pushing them around,” said Msungama.
But Mfune countered: “We will have to dictate the pace of things, we cannot afford to have this match played later than July 19.”
“Our diary is crammed, Bullets will have no choice but to change their programme. There is the BP Top 8 coming up and then we have to finish the league by July 12 at all costs,” said Mfune.
Carlsberg’s senior brands manager Ralph Chirwa said as sponsors they have no problems with Fam coming up with any other date.
“But it would be better if it was replayed as soon as possible. We do not want to prolong it any further,” said Chirwa. |
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