Rainbow Paints Southern Region Netball League pacesetters, Kukoma Diamonds, have breathed a sigh of relief after the league’s disciplinary committee ruled in the team’s favour to have their game against Chitakale Sisters rescheduled.
The two sides were initially expected to meet on July 30 but Diamonds did not show up for the match at Blantyre Youth Centre as they allegedly requested their counterparts to reschedule the match to August 4.
In its ruling following a meeting on Saturday, the committee established that there was communication breakdown between Chitakale and Diamonds’ officials.
“Before the season started, teams agreed that they can hold an inter-team understanding to reschedule fixtures and have games played midweek,” said the leagues Disciplinary Committee Chairperson, Isaac Chimwala.
“There was communication breakdown between Kukoma Diamonds Team Manager, Sella Ligowe, and her Chitakale counterpart, Mary Chikweza, because they did not understand each other to have the game rescheduled. Besides that, both teams did not alert the secretariat as required.”
The ruling states that the game will be replayed at Mulanje Park on Saturday.
Chimwala then urged teams to notify the secretariat about inter-team agreements.
“This arrangement has been working. Most of the teams have benefited from this but teams need to notify and consult our secretariat,” he said.
However, Chikweza said they will challenge the ruling because they were entitled to free points having shown up for the game.
“I think something fishy has happened. We will appeal,” she said.
According to the rules, a team that fails to report for a match forfeits points and losea by 150- 0 baskets.
Ligowe said they would wait for the official ruling before making a comment.
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