Lack of substitution board delays Moyale, BB match

Lack of a substitution board at Mzuzu Stadium delayed Saturday’s Airtel Top 8 quarter-final match between hosts Moyale Barracks and Nyasa Big Bullets.

Former Fifa referee Kalyoto Ngosi rescued the situation when he created improvised carton-made boards.

A top referee confided in  The Nation that the situation came about because TNM—sponsors of the TNM Super League—instructed them to stop using their electronic gadgets for other competitions.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) acting competitions manager Casper Jangale blamed ground owners, Mzuzu City Council (MCC), for allegedly failing to adhere to an agreement that they should be providing all the required facilities, including the substitution boards.

He said: “We must not look much into Airtel and TNM  because these are into business competition

“It is  unfortunate that MCC  failed to adhere to what we agreed. Otherwise, I thank Ngosi for his creativity. He  rescued us from embarrassment,”

But MCC chief executive officer Gift Kadam’manja dismissed Jangale’s accusations, saying at no time did the council agree with FAM to provide the substitution  board at any matches.

“Our role is only to provide the stadium and nothing else,” he said.

Airtel Malawi zone business manager responsible for the North Gerald Kanthungo, while commending Ngosi for his invention, said he was not even aware  what arrangements were made between FAM and the competition’s organising committee regarding the substitution boards..

The game ended goalless but Bullets cruised to the semi-finals on a 1-0 goal aggregate having won the first leg 1-0.n