By Lwazi Dlamini
OId habits die hard. Six years after he verbally assaulted a reporter from a local daily while still Sihlangu Semnikati’s mentor, Dutch journeyman, Pieter de Jongh was at it again in Malawi last Saturday.
According to the Malawi24 website, De Jongh was hopping mad after his team, Silver Strikers played to a goalless draw against Chitipa United at Civo Stadium. He accused referee, Davie Chombo of robbing his team of two valuable points.
The furious Dutchman was seen charging towards the referee after the final whistle, and he had to be stopped by Silver’s security team which arrived on time to avoid collateral damage.
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During the post-match interview, an angry De Jongh had no kind words for Chombo and his entire officiating team, saying Malawian football needs fair play.
“I hope that the media will report what’s happening. We need fair play in Malawi’s football. Everyone could see this game, especially in the first half, that it had no cards. The referee refused to give our opponents cards. This referee stole two points from me and my team. He didn’t also add extra minutes to the match.
“We made changes including the opponents in the second half but zero extra minutes. How possible? Shame for the football in Malawi. Big shame,” he said.
When the reporter asked him about how frustrating it was, the De Jongh simply said: “What sort of questioning is this? You ask me stupid questions when the referee has no cards in a game where he was supposed to issue cards. It’s a stupid question, and I don’t want to hear,” he rattled at the reporter whilst walking away.
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On several occasions, De Jongh has been accusing the Super League of Malawi of favouring FCB Nyasa Big Bullets through an “unfair fixture arrangement” yet the defending champions have played more away games in the first round.
The draw saw the Central Bankers failing to capitalize on the Bullets’ second successive draw as they maintained a three-point gap going into the Hollywood Bet Cosafa break. The Cosafa Cup is slated for next week in South Africa.
The Bankers are top of the table with 25 points, three above the Bullets with eleven games played each.