Nomads lose case, Silver win

Mighty Wanderers have lost their Presidential Cup case against Bvumbwe Research while Silver Strikers have won theirs against Zomba-based non-league side Complex Madrid.

According to a ruling made by the FAM disciplinary committee on Thursday, Bvumbwe did not contravene rules and regulations of the tournament by fielding three players that were loaned to them by the Nomads.

“We (therefore) recommend that the result (2-1) of the game in favour of Bvumbwe stand as none of the rules of the competition was contravened by Bvumbwe,” reads part of the ruling.

The Nomads’ argument was that the three players in question Ndaziona Mamu, Ibrahim Sadiki and McLean Salamu were not supposed to feature for Bvumbwe as a condition of their loan agreement.

Reacting to the ruling, Wanderers general secretary and legal adviser David Kanyenda said while they have reservations with the ruling, they will not appeal.

“We were knocked out of the competition on the pitch. The verdict does not change anything, it just seals our fate. We now have to extend our energies on the rest of the competitions.

“However, our position is that the ruling is not entirely correct in some aspects, but we prefer not to hold all at ransom by exercising our right to appeal. If we appeal it will only delay the competition. For the sake of posterity we shall formally write FAM to raise our concerns on areas we feel the panel erred; meanwhile, we wish Bvumbwe all the best,” said Kanyenda.

And determining the ruling on the complaint lodged by Silver, the disciplinary committee said: “Following the prescription under the Article 17.6 of the Rules and Regulations, we recommend that the 2-1 win in favour of Complex Madrid be overturned and the game be awarded to Silver Strikers at 2-0 score.”

Complex Madrid were found guilty of featuring three players that were ineligible including Aiko Maluwa, who scored both goals.

FAM has since announced that following the rulings, Bvumbwe will face Epac FC this afternoon while Big Bullets will take on Silver Strikers in the round of 16.