A Malawi Super League match between Kamuzu Barracks and Dedza Dynamos at Civo Stadium in the capital Lilongwe started with drama bordering on ‘Juju’ beliefs.
The match, which kicked off at 2:30 p.m., began with 10 players on each side. The eleventh player for each team opted to sit on the bench.
After the game kicked off, the fourth official, Chidziwitso Simbi, was called to answer a phone call believed to have come from one of the officials in the stands, notifying him that the teams had only nine infield players on the pitch. The phone call took one minute.
Soon after, Kamuzu Barracks defender Mike Mtonyo and Dedza midfielder Lameck Gamphani were seen entering the pitch. By the time they came on, 15 minutes had passed, and referee Easter Zimba did not hesitate to show both players yellow cards.
Was it really Juju?
The reasons for the two players’ decision to stay on the bench for the first 15 minutes have been linked to juju, a metaphysics used to influence the outcome of a match.
Although the suspicions are purely based on general ideas rather than on reality, many believe the two players were instructed to be on the bench to neutralize the magical powers of their opponent.
An effort to get a comment from the Super League of Malawi (SULOM) and the match commissioner proved futile by the time of publication.
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The match ended with Kamuzu Barracks collecting maximum points, beating the visitors 2-0. Gregory Nachipo and Hope Namadzunda were the scorers on the day.
Following the win, Kamuzu Barracks moved from 8th to 6th place with 22 points. Dedza, on the other hand, dropped to 10th with 19 points.
