KB jumps fence amid juju fears
Kamuzu Barracks (KB) FC players created controversy on Saturday after refusing to enter the Silver Stadium dressing room area through the normal entrance.
Instead they jumped over the fence in the build up to a TNM Super League match against Silver Strikers.
Confirming the incident, KB coach Billy Phambala said they suspected that their hosts, who they held to a goalless draw, had applied juju to one of the entrances which they were supposed to use.
He said after arriving at the stadium his team asked to use another entry rather than the one meant for his players, but they were told that the keys to that entry could not be traced.
“It is true we jumped over the fence. Silver players used another entrance and we demanded to use the same. However, they insisted that we use a different door and we became suspicious.
“We felt there was some juju plot against us and, in the end, we had to find other means to enter the dressing room,” he said.
But Silver assistant coach Lovemore Fazili hit out at KB for acting “outside the bounds of sportsmanship by jumping over the fence”.
He said: “As coaches let us just drill our players on how to play well on the pitch rather than enforcing the juju beliefs.”
Fazili denied that his players used a different entrance: “The one they were insisting to use was closed a long time ago and nobody uses it anymore.”
Super League of Malawi (Sulom) general secretary Williams Banda has said they are investigating the issue but insisted that jumping over a fence is a punishable offence.
“I have not received a report regarding that game, but if it was true then it’s unfortunate. We discourage juju beliefs and we are against jumping over fences.
“But we will investigate the issue and take the necessary measures.”
Sulom has previously fined teams for using uncharted routes into stadia.
The draw in that match means Silver Strikers failed to dislodge Blue Eagles as league toppers. The Bankers, with 20 points, now trail the leaders with one point.
