Mighty Wanderers have lodged a formal complaint with Super League of Malawi (Sulom), citing biased and incompetent officiation in their match against Silver Strikers at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday.
The match ended in a 2-2 stalemate.
Wanderers Chief Executive Officer Panganeni Ndovi said the referees made a series of critical errors that significantly impacted the match’s outcome.
He said the most egregious incident occurred when assistant referee Samuel Fudzulani incorrectly disallowed a legitimate goal scored by Clement Nyondo, citing offside.
Ndovi said they provided video footage of the incident which they claim clearly shows the goal was valid.
“This mistake was a game-changer as we were unfairly denied the opportunity to extend the lead to 2-0. We can point to several incidents of biased officiation against us, including a dubious penalty awarded to Silver in the FDH Cup final and the sending off of our captain in the Charity Shield,” he said.
Ndovi also cited the recent suspension of referee Alfred Chilinda by Football Association of Malawi for wrong decisions in a match involving Civo and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets.
“In light of these incidents, we are demanding immediate action from Super League of Malawi. Our demands are clear. We want the entire officiating crew for the match to be suspended pending further investigations, particularly Fudzulani, who made the erroneous decision to disallow our legitimate goal.
“Furthermore, we seek formal assurance that the officiating crew for Saturday’s match shall not be assigned any match involving Mighty Wanderers, ensuring that our games are refereed impartially going forward. We also demand formal assurance that referees assigned to our remaining games shall be professional and fair, upholding the principles of fair play and sportsmanship,” he said.
Ndovi said, most significantly, they want the result of the match to be ‘corrected’.
“The denial of a genuine goal was a game changer because our team was unfairly robbed of an opportunity to extend the advantage to 2-0 as we were already leading by a goal,” the letter reads.
Sulom General Secretary Williams Banda said they had not yet received the complaint officially as of yesterday.
“Thanks to Wanderers for putting the complaint in black and white. Once received, it will be treated as per Sulom rules and regulations, Laws of the Game and the Fifa disciplinary code.
May I, on behalf of Sulom, request Wanderers to religiously follow Sulom rules and regulations for our urgent attention or, in short, they must pay the requisite fees,” Banda said.
The letter was also copied to Football Association of Malawi and National Referees Association.
Alfred Chilinda took charge of the Saturday match, with Fudzulani as his first assistant and Samson Wasili as the second.
