Tue, 04 Apr 2017 10:45:00 +0000
By Michael Miyoba
THE Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has condemned the unruly behavior exhibited by Nkana fans who went ballistic and started throwing bottles onto the pitch during the Samuel Zoom Ndlovu Charity Shield final on Sunday which their team lost 2-0 to Zesco United.
Nkana skipper Donashano Malama was sent off in the 58th minute after purposefully stepped on Zesco’s Ben Adama Banh’s stomach before hitting him on the head but the matching orders did not go well with Nkana supporters who started to throwing objects on to the pitch.
One police officer manning the match and a Supersport crew member were caught up in the fracas after bottled rained on then pitch as Malama was escorted out of the field of play after he initially refused to leave.
But in an interview with Daily Nation Sports in Lusaka, FAZ General Secretary Ponga Liwewe said the behavior by Nkana fans was unacceptable as it threatened the lives of soccer fans who trooped to the stadium to watch games.
Liwewe noted that soccer fans’ unruly behavior at stadiums should be avoided as it affects the reputation of the country as well.
“The behavior of Nkana fans in the charity shield final was unacceptable because it makes the stadium environment to be a place where people don’t want to go.
“It affects the club, it affects the finances of the club and the reputation of Zambia as a whole so we will look in to it as FAZ,” Liwewe said.
Liwewe stated that FAZ will take action when the full report is presented by the match commissioner of the Charity shield final played at Ndola’s Levy Mwanawasa stadium.
He urged soccer fans of various sports clubs to desist from exhibiting such behaviors when their teams are playing as they have negative consequences on the game.
“We are still waiting for the official report from the referee’s match commissioner. When we see the full report, we will take further action because that behavior is intolerable,” Liwewe said.
“We should avoid such conducts as it has a lot of consequences on the game of football,” he added.
