Saturday’s eagerly anticipated derby between Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers was abandoned due to crowd trouble.
Angry Wanderers fans pelted the pitch with projectiles in the 80th minute to protest allegedly poor officiating from the match officials.
Both teams were tied 1-1 with Stanely Sanudi striking for Wanderers and Yunus Sherrif gifting Bullets with an equalizer.
One of Wanderers stewards reportedly attacked the forth official physically and the match was stopped for ten minutes.
However, the hell broke lose again after referee Gift Chiko issued a straight card to Wanderers defender Ted Sumani and the match officials were forced to call off the tie due to inadequate security.
“It is uncalled for and quite against what we are trying to do now as Malawi Super League to eradicate hooliganism. We will await the report of the match commissioner on what transpired at Kamuzu Stadium and make a decision,” a source at Football Association of Malawi told Ducor Sports.
“Bullets will be awarded the match after we receive the reports. The issue will also go to the disciplinary committee from where further sanctions on Wanderers will be decided on.”
In the game, Wanderers started brightly with Babatunde Adepoju and Peter Wadabwa testing Chimbamba with long range efforts.
Bullets then had a chance at the other end when Kajoke got himself into a position to shoot from a tight angle but his effort hit the side-netting.
Wanderers took an early lead on the 13th minute with Stanely Sanudi sending a thunderous shot past Chimbamba to make it 1-0.
Felix Zulu went close to extending the Wanderers lead in the 36th minute, as he attempted to lob Chimbamba from the halfway line, however his effort sailed just over the mark.
That proved to be the last bit of goal-mouth action, as the sides entered the halftime break with Wanderers leading 1-0.
Trouble first flared up at halftime when fans from both sides clashed at halftime in the Russia stands. Police fired teargas at the fans and calm was restored allowing the second half to kick off.
The second half saw Chipuwa play a prominent role as Wanderers poured forward.
He stretched to his left to keep out Kayira’s cross before an even better save Mkanda’s header.
Sanudi seemed to be Bullets’ main threat for most of the encounter and he nearly doubled his tally in the 53rd when he forced Chimbamba into a fine save.
Bullets pushed for an equalizer and they were rewarded on the 80th minute courtesy of Sumani’s own goal.
Then came the games’ defining moment when a pitch invader raced towards Wanderers goalposts where he poured some substance and hell broke loose.
To their credit, Bullets fans patiently sat in the stands as police fought running battles with Wanderers’ faithfuls.
Some of Bullets officials had to take cover in an ambulance whose windows were shuttered by the stones hurled at their players and the referee.
File Photo
