NORTHERN Region Division One Soccer League side Karoi United want their match against Scottland played in Karoi last month be declared to have been drawn after a disciplinary committee had caught the former offside in a hearing of the abandoned tie.
Karoi United have lodged an appeal after the disciplinary committee had found them guilty of causing the abandonment of the match, having failed to control their fans, where one allegedly pelted referee Mathew Dingo with “missiles” causing injuries on the groin and sheen.
Despite insisting that the club was innocent of all charges, they have suggested that they pay a US$1 000 fine instead of the US$2 000 that had been imposed by the disciplinary committee.
The match was tied one-all when it was abandoned with eight minutes on the clock.
Following the appeal, Zifa will now appoint an appeals committee.
Scottland face Black Mambas this afternoon, where they will be looking to win the title in their last match of the season.
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Their celebrations will, however, have to wait until after the determination of the Karoi match.
Karoi United had been ordered to pay a fine of US$2 000, with the match awarded to Scottland on a 3-0 scoreline.
The club argues that the supporter who is said to have hit the referee with a missile is not theirs and that will be one of their main arguments in the appeal hearing.
“With the identity of the supporter who allegedly assaulted the referee being disputed, the committee (a quo) erred in holding it as an uncontroverted fact that it was one of the appellant’s supporter who threw missiles on the field of play and assaulted the referee, especially when no single missile was produced as evidence during the hearing,” Karoi United said in their submissions.
The disciplinary committee had noted that the supporter in question was among the Karoi United fans behind the team’s goal area.
They argue that the match could have gone ahead despite the referees reporting that the environment was not conducive.
Their argument is that it is the referees who abandoned the match.
Karoi demand that: “The accused is hereby not found guilty and acquitted; the match between the accused and Scotland Football Club be declared to have ended on a scoreline of 1-1.
“The accused is hereby ordered to pay a fine of US$1 000.”