By Sheldon Hakata

A SCHOOL of thought in the Zimbabwe football fraternity claims the pre-independence era produced better footballers, administrators and, most importantly, referees.
Many reckon the great players of the pre-independence era, match officials and administrators provided better entertainment value than they are doing in the post-independence era.
Even the fans, the powerful forces who make the game a sport, enjoyed soccer due to the fairness that prevailed.
When Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980, a sense of optimism permeated the nation through all aspects of life.
The country got ready for the great leap forward and sport, football in this case, benefitted from being re-admitted into the international football arena after years of isolation.
It was a new dawn as sports people exhibited their skills on both the local and, most importantly, the international arena.
Hockey led the way with the Olympic gold in Moscow in 1980.
In football, Zimbabwe with its ‘wonder team’ played its first international tournament with a win over Zambia.
The wonder team comprised Abraham Mkanga, Graham Boyle, Sunday Marimo, Ephert Lungu, David Muchineripi, Oliver Kateya, David Mandigora, Wonder Phiri, Robert Godoka, Shakeman Tauro, Onias Musana, Joseph Zulu and John Rugg, as the coach, announced the arrival of Zimbabwean football on the international scene.
However, the new era in Zimbabwe marked the end of great footballers such as Peter Nyama, George Shaya, Chita Antonio, Gibson Homela and Lawrence Phiri.
The Super League of 1980 was run by ZIFA under the chairmanship of administrators like John Madzima, Nelson ‘Jumbo Jet’ Chirwa and was sponsored by the British-American Tobacco (BAT).
Great teams that come to mind are Gweru United, Arcadia United, ZISCOSTEEL, Rio Tinto, Zimbabwe Saints, Bata Power, Black Aces, Olympics and Eagles but some of these teams are now extinct or are consigned to lower leagues.
While they existed, they produced some great soccer players to grace the league and left great memories in as much as what the match officials did.
Some of the teams have fallen by the wayside while others have soldiered on despite the increasingly difficult atmosphere.
Dynamos, CAPS United, Highlanders and Hwange have managed to negotiate the difficult terrain to this day.
However, the majority who started the journey in 1980 have also fallen by the wayside.
Just like the coaching profession, being a football referee can also be an unrewarding occupation.
You rarely see the man in black make headlines for all the good reasons.
They are always criticized by the losing team even if they have done a good job.
This is different from the respect great referees like Felix Sanyika earned during their time.
At one stage, Sanyika headed the Zimbabwe Soccer Referees Association and won the Referee-of-the-Year Award in 1983.
Referees who include Felix Tangawarima, Brighton Mudzamiri, Frank Valdemarca, the late Sanyika, John Nkahazo and Wilfred Mukuna were once a regular feature on the international stage.
Their efforts reflected their dedication and prowess needed in their profession.
In 2003, veteran referee, Tangawarima quit the sport that gave him fame and fortune, both locally and internationally, and left a legacy that must be emulated.
It seems Tangawarima’s shoes have so far proved too big for local match officials to fill.
For 17 years, Tangawarima was a firm referee.
Due to his dignified service during and after his active refereeing years, Tangawarima has earned himself title of a FIFA instructor and heads the COSAFA Referees Committee.
The widey-travelled official becomes the third Zimbabwean after the late ZIFA president, Chirwa, and Valdemarca to be appointed into the CAF referees Committee.
Ruzive Ruzive’s expulsion from the 2015 COSAFA Senior Challenge had long been coming and he is not alone in his ‘incompetence’.
The current crop of match officials have been struggling to make their mark at CAF.
Ruzive’s expulsion is not surprising, considering there has been a lot of complains, not only on former Zimbabwe Referee-of-the-Year, but on the standards of Zimbabwean football officiating.
Ruzive has been in the eye of a storm on several occasions.
Bias and incompetence forced a lot of teams, including Highlanders, to protest against his handling of their matches.
It is only COSAFA that would consider having Zimbabwe referees at their tournaments.
The standards of football officiating in the country has drastically gone down.
Not even a single local referee has been chosen for the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
There has been reports of rampant biased officiating in the lower leagues as well as the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches.
Reports given suggest local referees are just not good enough and do not carry out their duties meticulously.
The now defunct Sports Writers Association of Zimbabwe (SWAZ) at one stage suggested that the Castle Referee-of-the-Year Award be scrapped.
Against this background, there is a possibility of match manipulation in the way referees are being caught off-side in the discharge of their duties.
Evidence from local matches show that on several occasions, assistant referees have got off-side calls wrong.
It is high time Zimbabwean authorities pay much attention to improving the standards of officiating.
There is need to improve on the very few courses that are being held for the referees.
ZIFA should have a budget that caters more on the needs of improving match officiating.
Blessed Bandawa, a Harare-based soccer fan said match officiating must improve forthwith.
“Complete overhaul of our local football officiating is needed if we are to go back to the good old days when legends such as Tangawarima, Mudzamiri and Valdemarca, among others, ruled.
However, one can also note that it takes a lot of character to become a match official in any sport due to the scrutiny placed in every decision made, especially in this world of social media.
The referee only has a split second to make a decision.
The issue of match officiating continues to be topical in Zimbabwe.
Last weekend, former Warriors coach Rahman Gumbo lost his cool and caused a premature end to Chicken Inn’s Chibuku Super Cup first-round match against Yadah FC at Ascot Stadium.
Controversy struck in the 86th minute when referee Munyaradzi Majoni awarded a penalty to the miracle boys.
Gumbo, who did not agree with the decision, summoned his players to the touchline, ordering them not to continue with the match unless the decision was reversed.
This reaction prompted match officials to abandon the match after having waited for 30 minutes.
Gumbo refused to shed more light on the incident apart from saying: “No comment! What can I say about this poor officiating?”
Chicken Inn are most likely to be booted out of the Chibuku Super Cup after forcing the abandonment of their first round tie against Yadah FC.
The match was stopped after referee Munyaradzi Majoni awarded a penalty kick to Yadah FC in the 86th minute.
Controversy seem to be the norm in football matches of this day.
In a Chibuku Super Cup match between Triangle and Black Rhinos, Triangle coach, Taurai Mangwiro, became furious at how referee Brighton Chimene ‘ignored’ some physical clashes from Rhinos players.
He cited reasons of his players not being offered protection.
The situation forced Mangwiro to make a number of substitutions in this Chibuku Super Cup first-round encounter.
The first substitution did not last either as he was substituted just two minutes into the second-half following another crunch challenge from a Rhinos player.
The Sugar Sugar Boys were forced to replace injured Dzingai Chirambamuriwo in the 68th minute.
Taurai Mangwiro had no kind words for the referee.
“I think Black Rhinos on their part, muscled us out of the game,” he said.
“It was a physical contest resembling a kung fu or karate contest where the referee (Brighton Chimene), did not do much to protect the players.”
Black Rhinos won 2-1 to progress to the quarter-finals of the Chibuku Super Cup.