The ZIFA Referees Committee has placed itself in the eye of a raging storm after controversially appointing Mutare-based referee Qedisani Dirwai to officiate the high-stakes relegation clash between hosts Manica Diamonds, a club which hails from the same city, and Bikita Minerals at Sakubva Stadium this afternoon.
It’s a brutal, do-or-die encounter, with the outcome set to seal the Premier League fate of one of the two teams.
The stakes could not be higher.
Manica Diamonds, the team from Mutare, currently sit on 38 points in 12th position, requiring at least a draw to ensure their survival.
The situation is even more dire for Bikita Minerals, who are teetering on the relegation cut-off point with 37 points.
They desperately need a straight win to be safe, a result that would send Manica Diamonds down.
With the league status of a local team hanging in the balance, ZIFA’s decision to select a referee hailing from Mutare to oversee a game involving Manica Diamonds has been condemned as a gross oversight that violates ethical standards.
"It flies in the face of FIFA's tenets of fair play," charged prominent football critic Anesu Gochera. "How can they select a referee who lives and works in Mutare to officiate a game involving the Mutare-based team? Are we truly short of referees in this country? This is just unethical."
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The concerns are further amplified by Dirwai’s already controversial past and history of involvement in troubled matches.
"He has proved incompetent and requires permanent removal from the premier league panel," another critic stated, pointing to the referee’s chequered record.
Dirwai was the centre referee in the abandoned matches between Dynamos and FC Platinum and Scottland versus Chicken Inn, with both instances following highly controversial penalty decisions.
Following his performances in these two fixtures, which ZIFA themselves concluded "did not meet the expected standards," Dirwai was subsequently hit with a six-matchday ban by the football association.
His appointment to this crucial match, where allegations of local bias could ignite chaos, has raised serious questions about the Referees Committee’s judgment and commitment to sporting integrity at the most critical juncture of the season.
