Northern Region Football Association bites Chintheche FC

By Bernard Mhone:

Northern Region Football Association (NRFA) has barred one of its Simama and Sons Premier League teams Chintheche FC from using Chiwaza Ground after finding it guilty of inciting violence during a match against Rumphi United on Saturday.

Chintheche have also been fined K100,000 for failing to control actions of their supporters who assaulted referee McNill Gausi and two Rumphi United players, Tonic Viyuyi and Trouble Kajani.

NRFA has since ordered Chintheche to use Luwinga Technical Development Centre ground in Mzuzu as their home ground for the rest of the season.

A ruling dated September 30 2021 and signed by NRFA vice General Secretary Desire Bellings states that Chintheche influenced the ugly scenes through a public address system.

“The reason why the referee was assaulted by the supporters was because he came from Mpamba not Chintheche. Despite both places being within Nkhata Bay, the misconception was that he was not supposed to officiate the game because Chintheche also has referees who officiate such games,” the ruling reads.

It states that the hosts assaulted the referee twice, during halftime and at the end of the match which ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

In a related development, NRFA has also fined Baka City K100,000 for failing to honor fixtures against Embangweni United and KV FC, formerly Kavukula.

The letter states that NRFA received an excuse from Baka asking for postponement of their away games due to the death of the father to one of the team’s players. The deceased was also an executive committee member of the team.

The regional football governing body has, therefore, awarded three points and three goals to Embangweni and KV.

NRFA has also warned that Baka will be expelled from the league should they miss another fixture.

“Baka’s request was not valid and not in line with Article 8 Sub-article 3 of the league’s rules and regulations. The fixtures could have been postponed if the death was of either a serving committee member or a player. The request came on Friday 24 hours to the match day. This was not in line with the requirements,” the letter states.

Chintheche General Secretary Lupakisho Simwera said they were banging heads on their next course of action.

“But what should be known is that NRFA has come up with a verdict without hearing our side of the story. This is unfair. We did all we could to control our supporters but it seems they have chosen to disregard that. We are struggling financially and playing in Mzuzu is a non-starter,” Simwera said.

Efforts to speak to Baka City officials proved futile as their mobile phones went unanswered.

However, Rumphi Chairperson Chiza Mkandawire described Chintheche’s punishment as lenient considering the gravity of the offence.

Rumphi are at the summit of the log table with 17 points from seven matches while Chintheche are second with 10 points from six games.

Baka anchor the table with six points from seven games.