Karonga United cry foul
Northern Region Football League (NRFL) Premier Division contenders Karonga United and Mzuzu University (Mzuni) have sought FAM’s intervention over controversy surrounding the race for promotion to the Super League.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda on Wednesday said they were aware of the dispute.
Karonga’s complaint follows NRFL’s recent decision to award Mzuni full points for their match against Nkhata Bay Police for the cops’ alleged use of an ineligible player. The move has put Mzuni back into contention for the league title.
Karonga’s general secretary Frank Manyazi Banda said: “It is clear that the league is trying its best to ensure that Mzuni should win the league. They decided to award Mzuni more points when it transpired that we had clinched the title after winning our last game because even if Mzuni had won all their remaining games, they would have trailed us by two points.”
Karonga finished the season with 91 points while as of yesterday, Mzuni had 85 points, but were taking on Euthini Pirates as we went to press. Their final fixture is against Chindi FC today. Should they win both games, they will be at par with Karonga, but Mzuni need to score more goals to dislodge Karonga, who have a better goal difference.
Manyazi Banda alleged that all this is happening because some of the league’s committee members are affiliated to Mzuni.
However, NRFL general secretary Aubrey Shawa dismissed Karonga’s claims, saying they had no basis.
“The Nkhata Bay Police issue was straightforward in that they featured a goalkeeper who was not registered with us and rules had to apply
“We also have no reason to favour Mzuni because we treat all the teams equally. There is nothing sinister and the truth is that Karonga are not yet champions until Mzuni complete their games,” said Shawa.
Shawa yesterday also claimed that they had investigated yet another complaint filed by Mzuni that Kabwafu featured an illegible player, Dennis Mughogho, who they claimed, belonged to Epac in a match which Mzuni lost 1-0.
But the Karonga GS said the reason NRFL pursued the matter was part of its campaign to ensure that Mzuni should at all cost win the title.
The FAM CEO said that as of yesterday he had only received a complaint from Mzuni concerning their game against Kabwafu.
“We are yet to receive Karonga’s letter. We have asked the league to convene and sort out the issue. We have also asked our Mzuzu-based executive committee members to intervene and be part of the process,” said Nyirenda.
