RED CARD! FOR TOP REFEREES

MBABANE – Two top football match officials, including a FIFA-accredited middleman, have been caught on the wrong side of the law in the past week.

A fight over a woman in a bar has seen the country’s top referee being put behind bars for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH). The incident took place on Friday afternoon at the Ka-Gcina Bar, one of the popular drinking halls in Matsapha, which is situated adjacent to Matsapha Police Station.

Meanwhile, Match Commissioner Henry Mmema, along with two accomplices, were arrested for stock theft and appeared before a magistrate in Nhlangano.  Mmema is currently out on bail while waiting for the matter to resume on June 19, 2018. The matter is filed as case number 78/2018.

The top referee, name deliberately withheld pending his appearance in court today, is said to have argued with another man, who was identified as Banda, over a woman who was also enjoying alcoholic beverages at Ka-Gcina drinking hole last Friday.
According to witnesses, their quarrel resulted in the top referee, who was in company of one of his friends, allegedly physically attacking Banda inside the watering hole.

However, the bar patrons ordered them not to fight inside the drinking hole.
Thereafter, they manhandled and dragged him out of the bar. Upon seeing that the duo will have more space and freedom when assaulting his friend outside the bar, the complainant intervened with the sole purpose of ending the fight. 

As they dragged him down the steps of the bar, the complainant tried to pull his friend away from the duo while trying to reason with them not to beat him up.

 “However, before he could utter more words, the referee was heard saying; ‘bengivele ngikufuna wena’ (I have always wanted to deal with you)’ while leaving Banda and charging towards the complainant,” the source said.

As the whistle man was concentrating on the complainant, Banda got a chance to slip away from his attacker and bolted down the road with the assailant hot on his heels. Back at the steps of the bar, the referee allegedly picked up a beer bottle and hit the complainant once on the mouth while holding it with his right hand.

In the process, the bottle broke and slit the complainant’s lower lip. Within the twinkling of an eye, the referee’s friend came back after being outpaced by Banda and found the complainant oozing blood from his injured lip, questioning the whistle man on why he assaulted him because he was not fighting but only intervened with the aim of ending the fight.

However, instead of following the talks between the two, the referee’s friend knocked the complainant down with a single punch on the injured mouth. Thereafter, the duo allegedly kicked him all over the body, while hurling all sorts of insults at him.

It was other revellers who came to the rescue of the complainant and called the police who rushed him to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital where he got five stitches to close the gaping wound.
Information gathered was that the referee and his friend were arrested and charged with assault by police officers from Matsapha Police Station yesterday morning.

Meanwhile, the woman, whom they were allegedly fighting over, was also called to report at the police station and she will be a witness in the matter.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Khulani Mamba confirmed the matter yesterday. He said the arrested referee will make his appearance at a magistrates court this morning.

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