The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has heavily punished Chambishi Football Club over crowd trouble that caused the abandonment of their Super Division match against Red Arrows.
FAZ spokesperson Sydney Mungala said Chambishi have been fined K50, 000 for failure to control their supporters who caused the match to be abandoned, and in breach of Article 67 of the FAZ Disciplinary Code.
The FAZ Disciplinary Committee has also slapped a five-match ban of spectators at Chambishi stadium for the next five Super League home matches for the club.
In the third sanction, the score of 4-3 is annulled due to the abandonment of the game and Red Arrows wins the match by a 3-0 score line.
“We have noted the apology by Chambishi FC over the conduct of their supporters. We also note the fact that the misconduct was directed to the home team’s own technical bench and no one was harmed. We commend Chambishi FC for committing to educate its fans on the need for discipline when attending football matches,” reads part of the verdict.
“The above notwithstanding, this committee has a duty to protect the integrity of the game by being consistent with sanctions. A precedent has been set this season on sanctions meted out to offenders to do with crowd trouble, violence and general misconduct such as throwing of missiles.”
The Joseph Jalasi chaired FAZ Disciplinary Committee added that the sanctions were meant to restore order in the game and guarantee all stakeholders of game safety during matches. Chambishi have, in accordance with Articles 119, 120 and 121 of the Disciplinary Code, the right to appeal the decision of the committee within 72 hours of notification of the decision.
FAZ General Secretary Adrian Kashala says it is his hope that clubs will take a leaf from the punishments being meted out to erring members.
“We cannot overemphasize the need to sanitize our game from some ugly scenes that are slowly finding space in our otherwise well run League. We will not slow down meting out punishment on erring clubs and hope that our game will be ridded of hooliganism,” says Kashala.
This punishment is ridiculous and outrageous. It’s too much for the team struggling to stay in the premier league due to financial constraints. Big clubs like Nkana have always misbehaved when it comes to them losing games especially at home and we have never seen them punished with a K50,000 fine as meted on Chambishi FC. FAZ please rethink your decision, because this your decision is not fair to Chambishi FC. We need to have teams in the premier league including those considered nonentities. If this decision is not reversed then our beautiful game of football is headed nowhere.