City of Lusaka FC has lodged a complaint letter with the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), demanding an explanation as to why Mufulira Wanderers were allowed to use six substitutes instead of five during the week 21 National Divisional One fixture played at Shinde Stadium on Sunday.
In their complaint letter, City Ya Moto has alleged that “Mufulira Wanderers made their first substitution in the 46th minute where number 19 Maxwell Mabenga came off and number 50 Max Kabwe came in. “In the 71st minute, five substitutes were made. Number 10 Changala Simutenda, 30 Clive Biyeta, 8 Patson Kwataine, 20 Evans Chisanga, and 14 Collins Makungu came out. Numbers 4 Francis Simunika, 12 Evans Musonda, 29 Emmanuel Mukuka, 21 Brian Chalwe, and Joseph Mumbi came in.”
City’s general manager, Dalton Ross, has confirmed that the club has written to FAZ to ask why Wanderers were allowed to break the rules of the game.
“In our game last weekend, we believe that there were six substitutes. We would like for FAZ to look into it,” he said. “It’s not a complaint against; it’s a query to say that according to our records, we know that there were six substitutes. We want to know why Mufulira Wanderers was allowed to do that.”
MUFULIRA WANDERERS’ REACTION
Secretary general(SG), Mwila Mumba, said they can neither deny nor confirm the allegations, but will soon issue a statement.
“We are not going to comment on that for now, ” the Wanderers SG told Bolanews. “but yes, we have seen the complaint by City. We will issue a statement as a club to state our side of the story.”
City suffered their fourth defeat in their last six matches on Sunday, falling 4-1 to Wanderers. They now sit ninth in the National Division one league standings with 30 points.
Wanderers, on the other hand, have moved into second place. They now have 40 points from 21 matches and are competing for promotion to the Super League.
Meanwhile, FAZ has yet to respond to City’s complaint, and it remains to be seen what their decision will be if Wanderers are found guilty of using six substitutes in last weekend’s five-goal thriller at the Shinde stadium.
