Sports Snippets,Sports Snippets
by: George Kasakula,George Kasakula, 1/16/2004, 2:43:11 PM

How Sammy United?
So Sammy’s United, owned by former (or is it acting) Fam president Sameer Suleman has finally bulldozed its way into the Super League despite MTL Wanderers Youth claim that they suspect foul play in the way the team was declared Blantyre and Districts Football League champions. Wanderers Youth allege the decisive match between Sammy’s United and Cobbe Barracks was fixed because the former was supposed to win 8-0 and they did just that with a slight difference of 9-1. Wanderers Youth also allege that Suleman paid the referee officiating the match. I would have expected Fam to fully investigate the matter other than dismissing it off hand and allowing Sammy’s United to play in the elite league. And Sulom cannot feign innocence and shift the blame to Fam, saying if there is a complaint, it should go to Fam. They should have been proactive for the sake of justice and fairness. MTL Youth have been short-changed.
Consult Kafatiya
Suspended National Referees Association chairman Charles Kafatiya should learn not to take the association as his personal estate by making important policy decisions without consulting at least his executive members. The general meeting in Mzuzu and its aftermath have left a very bad aftertaste in the sports fraternity with issues such as the MSCE requirement for Fam executive members. So if Kafatiya wanted to comment on such an emotive matter through a letter entitled Conduct of Elections and the Recent EGM, he should have done so in his personal capacity and not as NRA president unless he had consulted the other executive members. The stakes are even higher when one considers that Kafatiya had the audacity of copying the letter to Fifa for reasons best known to himself. Could it be to make an impression, I do not know but he should have consulted. It is as well that the man has been suspended.
On BB players
Some of the Bakili Bullets senior players have no case in saying that they are frustrated with their club’s move to give the new players five-star treatment while giving them a cold shoulder. The problem is not only with BB players but all footballers in the country. They allow themselves to be abused and get things at the whims of somebody. The truth of the matter is that football is like any other job where one must have clear conditions of service put in writing before even starting to offer the service. This is not the case in the country. Players do not sign proper contracts and in the process they get abused only to cry foul later. Things such as favouritism have no room when you have a contract because all your remuneration is spelt out in the contract and so one cannot complain. If there are problems, the player would just ask for an improvement in his contract. But here the players are not at the mercy of someone with the purse.
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How Sammy United?
So Sammy’s United, owned by former (or is it acting) Fam president Sameer Suleman has finally bulldozed its way into the Super League despite MTL Wanderers Youth claim that they suspect foul play in the way the team was declared Blantyre and Districts Football League champions. Wanderers Youth allege the decisive match between Sammy’s United and Cobbe Barracks was fixed because the former was supposed to win 8-0 and they did just that with a slight difference of 9-1. Wanderers Youth also allege that Suleman paid the referee officiating the match. I would have expected Fam to fully investigate the matter other than dismissing it off hand and allowing Sammy’s United to play in the elite league. And Sulom cannot feign innocence and shift the blame to Fam, saying if there is a complaint, it should go to Fam. They should have been proactive for the sake of justice and fairness. MTL Youth have been short-changed.
Consult Kafatiya
Suspended National Referees Association chairman Charles Kafatiya should learn not to take the association as his personal estate by making important policy decisions without consulting at least his executive members. The general meeting in Mzuzu and its aftermath have left a very bad aftertaste in the sports fraternity with issues such as the MSCE requirement for Fam executive members. So if Kafatiya wanted to comment on such an emotive matter through a letter entitled Conduct of Elections and the Recent EGM, he should have done so in his personal capacity and not as NRA president unless he had consulted the other executive members. The stakes are even higher when one considers that Kafatiya had the audacity of copying the letter to Fifa for reasons best known to himself. Could it be to make an impression, I do not know but he should have consulted. It is as well that the man has been suspended.
On BB players
Some of the Bakili Bullets senior players have no case in saying that they are frustrated with their club’s move to give the new players five-star treatment while giving them a cold shoulder. The problem is not only with BB players but all footballers in the country. They allow themselves to be abused and get things at the whims of somebody. The truth of the matter is that football is like any other job where one must have clear conditions of service put in writing before even starting to offer the service. This is not the case in the country. Players do not sign proper contracts and in the process they get abused only to cry foul later. Things such as favouritism have no room when you have a contract because all your remuneration is spelt out in the contract and so one cannot complain. If there are problems, the player would just ask for an improvement in his contract. But here the players are not at the mercy of someone with the purse.