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| Sports |
| Missing referee to be taken to task |
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by
Garry Chirwa, 08 December 2004
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09:05:22
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Football Association of Malawi (Fam) and the National Referees Committee (NRC) have said they will summon referee Patrick Kapanga on his two-day absence in Johannesburg where he went to officiate the Under-20 Cosafa tournament games.
Fam general secretary Roosvelt Mpinganjira and NRC’s head Charles Kafatiya confirmed the development, but said they were waiting to get the story from the horse’s mouth.
Mpinganjira said: “I was briefed by the president upon his arrival from Johannesburg on the issue, but I am waiting to get a report from the leader of delegation Joseph Mapwesera on what exactly happened and then we will call Kapanga himself for his side of the story as well.”
Kafatiya also said he was briefed by Nyamilandu on the issue and that his committee is also waiting for Kapanga’s explanation.
“It’s important that we should find out what exactly happened because it could have a bearing on the integrity of the NRC. We would like to find out where he was at the time he went missing,” said Kafatiya.
Kapanga is reported to have gone missing for two days and Malawi’s leader of delegation and Fam president Walter Nyamilandu, who at that time was in Johannesburg to attend a Cosafa meeting, were asked to explain the whereabouts of the referee.
The Malawi officials are reported to have apologised to the organisers and Nyamilandu was quoted by one of Zambia’s daily newspaper The Post as saying: “What he has done is a disgrace not only to the Malawi team but also to the nation.
“It is particularly unfortunate that this is happening at a time when we are trying to improve things at Fam,” Nyamilandu was quoted as saying.
But Kapanga reappeared after two days and apologised to Cosafa. He was allowed to officiate games and ended up being one of the best and officiated the final match between South Africa and Zambia which the former won 5-4 in regulation time.
Kapanga could not be reached for his comment on Tuesday because he was still reported to be in transit from South Africa.
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