Herentals coach Celistino Benza has come to the defence of referees amid a sustained attack on match officials from his counterparts since the start of the season.
A number of Castle Lager Premier Soccer League coaches have accused referees of incompetence or bias.
Caps United coach Lloyd Chitembwe has already been fined US$400 for his disparaging remarks on the referees that last month officiated his team's abandoned match against FC Platinum last month, while Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas has also been arraigned to appear before a league disciplinary committee for calling out on match officials.
Dynamos coach Genesis Mangombe was annoyed by match officials in his team's draw against Herentals.
The former Yadah coach made an outburst after the match at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday.
Mangombe was irked by the referees’s decision to disallow a Donald Dzvinyai headed goal late in the match.
But Benza, whose side were also denied a goal in the first half when Liyeto Dreamer was flagged offside, feels the referees are being used as scapegoats by coaches whenever their sides fail to get a desired result.
Benza said in the absence of video assistant referee (VAR), the coaches should just accept and respect the referees decisions.
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“Offsides are very difficult to judge. That is the reason we have VAR in other countries because it's generally difficult to judge an offside especially considering where we will be standing as coaches, with the distance, angle and all. Maybe the referee was correct [to disallow the goals] because I didn't have a clear view to judge on that," Benza said.
Mangombe, who also felt that Herentals' equaliser by Milton "Pogba" Chimedza should not have been allowed to stand as he was illegally leaning on defender Emmanuel Jalai when he headed home, insinuated that Herentals were always beneficiaries of bad officiating, a claim that was dismissed by Benza.
"It's his opinion, and he is entitled to it. I can't argue with him because maybe that is what he sees. But it's unfortunate that us as coaches, we always talk about the referees when results do not go our way. When we win, we never talk about referees, so I don't really know what goes on with us. It's something that I think we should rectify. When Dynamos were leading, everything was fine [with their coaches], but when we come back and equalise, that's when they talk about referees."
Mangombe said his players were not protected from rough challenges by the opponents and believes its high time that "something is done" to the match officials as they were costing teams points.
"It's always difficult for us because some of these decisions are letting us down. A referee can make mistakes, but it's getting worse everyday. We are losing points because of that. Even the goal that they scored was not legit because there was an infringement on Jalai. He was pushed but the referee allowed the goal to stand. We scored a clear goal but it was disallowed. Something needs to be done before it's too late. There are complaints from coaches after almost every match, but nothing is being done," Mangombe said.
Dynamos looked to be cruising to victory when Nomore Chinyerere scored in the 31st minute and the team had a glut of chances to bury their opponents, which they wasted in a dominant first half display.
But the former champions, somehow, let Herentals fight their way back into the game until Chimedza met a Tino Benza cross at the back post to deservedly equalise in the 68th minute.
The draw left Dynamos on 11th position on the log standings with 12 points, although they are set to be awarded three points from their abandoned match against Chegutu Pirates.
Pressure is mounting on Mangombe as the points gap between his team and the pacesetters continues to widen.
The Harare giants are now 10 points behind new log leaders Manica Diamonds who assumed pole position after beating Bikita Minerals 1-0 for their seventh straight win.
Michael Tapera was once again the hero when he rose from the bench to score the winner after the hour mark for his fifth goal in five straight matches.
FC Platinum moved to second position with 21 points after a 2-0 win over Highlanders who subsequently fell from the top of the log, down to fourth.
Simba Bhora were the other biggest winners of the weekend as they came from behind to condemn champions Ngezi Platinum to their third defeat of the season with a 2-1 win at Wadzanai Stadium.
The Tonderai Ndiraya-coached side moved to third position with 20 points.
Caps United moved to sixth position after their 1-0 win over Yadah. The Green Machine, who scored through a late William Manondo effort, are on 16 points, one behind Chicken Inn who were held to a draw by seventh-placed Bulawayo Chiefs.
