TP Mazembe expelled from CECAFA

May 23, 2010

IT looked like a fresh political battle had erupted between Congo and Rwanda but this time on a football pitch when the Congolese TP Mazembe players kick boxed a referee and forced an abandonment of their match with APR in the Cecafa Kagame cup action here in Kigali on Saturday.

CECAFA CLUBS CUP
Quarterfinals: today
Sofapaka v Rayon Sport
APR v Simba
Tomorrow
Telekom v St. George
Atraco v Vital’O
UGANDA SUPER LEAGUE
Maji 1 CRO 1
Kakungulu Cup
Tomorrow
Express v Police


By Rogers Kizito in Kigali

IT looked like a fresh political battle had erupted between Congo and Rwanda but this time on a football pitch when the Congolese TP Mazembe players kick boxed a referee and forced an abandonment of their match with APR in the Cecafa Kagame cup action here in Kigali on Saturday.

The two sides were playing their last group stage match to determine who leads Group ‘A’.

On 38 minutes, Mazembe skipper Tresor Mputu was sent off for trying to kick the referee after he allegedly failed to call for a foul when a Mazembe player appeared to have been unfairly tackled. Mputu also went ahead to swing his hand against an assistant referee in protest of aiding the APR players to beat their offside traps.

After the red card Mputu went berserk, chasing the referee for about 15 metres and kicking him to the ground. The referee was then mobbed by Mazembe players before police officers rushed onto the pitch to shield him. Some police officers did not however survive the blows from the charging Congolese players.

The ugly scenes reigned as a stunned stadium watched the guest team behave badly. This was the second time TP Mazembe was showing unsporting behaviour. The first one was in Khartoum in 2009 when El-Merriekh eliminated them at a semi finals stage.

Before the incident, APR had taken a lead in the 34th minute through Twite Kabange.

Another Rwanda side Rayon qualified for the quarterfinals from Group ‘B’ with a 3-0 win over Mafunzo of Zanzibar.

CECAFA secretary Nicholas Musonye called an impromptu meeting to discuss the matter. The meeting resolved to expel guest team from the tournament and the matter communicated to CAF.

The committee awarded two goals and three points to APR.

Djibouti Telekom FC who were due to leave Kigali after losing all their group stage matches were called back to replace Mazembe but as a third positioned team in that group.

Police briefly detained Mputu and Basisila Lusadisu but the two were later allowed to fly out.

Swalley Kenyi adds that Bosco Ssemugenyi netted an equaliser as Maji recovered from a goal down to secure a 1-1 draw against Mbale based CRO FC in the Uganda Super League at Nakivubo yesterday.

James Chandi had put coach Frank ‘Video’ Anyau’s side in the lead.

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