The Sunday News
Noel Munzabwa
“ANY trouble with a Highlanders fan? Tell him don’t talk to me, talk to my KUSOSA!” And if you want to send Highlanders fans nuts? Simply change your surname to Kusosa! It might work.
If there’s anything that will forever terrify a certain section of Highlanders Football Club fans for a good future it will be just the mention of the surname among any official handling their matches if recent disruptions at Barbourfields Stadium are anything to go by. With nightmares and grumbling tummies caused by notably two Kusosa off springs — Nelson on 18 July 2004 and Thomas last week. One could read from the frothing anger strong enough to halt Zimbabwe’s biggest tie, that surname creates a big tremor at Bosso.
With three closest moments coming to mind, two of them turning Barbourfields into a warzone, it may be conclusively reached that adding some official with that surname to any Highlanders match will be a recipe for disaster. Simply put, if Zifa or PSL and referees appointment committee want to harness handsomely from the fines, they will continue to appoint Kusosa to the Highlanders matrix but if they truly and genuinely want to fight violence, then avoid that surname in Bosso games.
If we indeed study history to determine our present and future, then our football studies on violent eruptions at soccer matches should land us at another cross country tie at Barbourfields Stadium on 18 July 2004 when Highlanders hosted Caps United. On that beautiful Sunday, the eldest of the Kusosa siblings in our game, Nelson, a Mathematics teacher by profession and then a Fifa Panel referee had driven his then Porsche and thick tyred Toyota Pajero 164 kilometres to Bulawayo from Gweru to take charge of the game.
With littered confrontations at the hands of the Bosso fans, for now we shall call it a premonition, Nelson drove his Pajero to ZRP Barbourfields base for safety. It was in 89th minute, with Highlanders leading 3-2, in a rare moment of the usual, Gift Lunga’s clumsiness won Caps United a penalty at the dearth which was coolly converted into an equaliser by Leonard Tsipa, from the remonstration, Ralph Matema was sent off. All Hell broke loose. Within minutes Emagumeni was engulfed in thick teargas smoke that left most of us asthmatics nursing attacks and soon enough getting nebulised at Mpilo Hospital Out Patients Department.
Another innocent life was reportedly lost in the process but by the time Nelson got to his car, one of the tyres had been knifed allegedly by a daring Bosso fan and credit to the police, they witnessed it and immediately effected arrest. The alleged hooligan was fined, Bosso were fined and asked to pay for the cost of the tyre but the 3-3 result stood.
Back to the future, enter Thomas, a 30-year-old accountant at a blue-chip conglomerate in the Midlands Province, who before Sunday’s match had torched emotions of Bosso fans when he flagged Roderick Mutuma’s “goal” offside in the 1-0 defeat to Shabanie Mine last month. Entrusted to handle the biggest match in the country he could have probably received a briefing from his brother on the risks of a big game as this particular one.
With Highlanders leading 1-0, he allowed a goal by Dynamos which the blue side of the game labelled legitimate, but torched emotions on the black and white side revoking memories from last month’s defeat to Shabanie Mine and probably his surname sends emotions back to 2004.
That pain of Dynamos goal, sparked a fierce fireball of emotions, opening up the biggest ever debate sending every football follower to a scholarly approach on the laws of the game to justify individual opinions.
But what remains, a disciplinary committee faces a very delicate moment to pass a sanction that will strike to ensure not to be precursor to future violence between the two teams.
“Psalms 23:5 You prepare a table before me, even in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.” Just who are those enemies that he refers to? Your guess is just as good as mine.
@NoelMunzabwa
