Nawa defends Napsa Stars’ decision to protest

By NDINAWE SIMPELWE –

NAPSA Stars chairperson Richard Nawa has defended his players’ action of  protesting against a disputed penalty decision during a Week 17 MTN/FAZ Super League tie against Lumwana Radiants.
Napsa players walked off the pitch with about five minutes left to play in protest over an injury time penalty awarded to the home side.
Nawa said he will wait for the match commissioner’s report before stating what the club will demand after abandoning the match.
He said Napsa has no record of abandoning matches and for the players to react in that manner means that there was something wrong with the referee’s decision.
“If  you look at our history as a club, we have no record of abandoning matches. We have a clean disciplinary record. No one wants a match to be abandoned but if the players feel a decision is not correct, they are allowed to complain to the referee.
“They were actually protesting the decision by the referee not that they wanted to abandon the match. Anyway, we will wait for the referee’s and match commissioner’s reports before we issue an official statement,” Nawa said.
The two teams were locked at 1-1 going into injury time when referee Chilufya Mwangelwa pointed to the spot after adjudging that a Napsa defender had handled the ball in the penalty box, an incident Napsa are saying happened outside the area.
Mwangelwa was at the centre of attraction earlier in the match when he disallowed a Napsa goal, ruling it offside when the assistant referee did not raise his flag.
The referee further sent off Napsa assistant coach Linos Makwaza for protesting against the disallowed goal.
Both Napsa and Lumwana are fighting to survive relegation.