In a shocking display of frustration, a coach lost his temper during a match on Saturday, slapping one of his own players after being shown a red card in Zimbabwe.
Ngezi Platinum Stars head coach Takesure Chiragwi, who doubles up as assistant coach of the Zimbabwe National Team, slapped Macdonald Makuwe in full view of the cameras.
The drama unfolded in the 34th minute, shortly after Harare giants Dynamos equalised to make the score 1-1 via an own goal from Ngezi’s Brooklyn Katumba in a league tie at the Rufaro Stadium. Chiragwi protested the goal furiously, arguing that there was a foul in the build-up. His intense reaction led to the referee giving him a red card for unbecoming behaviour.
As tempers boiled over on the Ngezi technical bench, substitute player Makuwe approached the coach in an attempt to calm him down. Instead of calming down, a visibly angry Chiragwi lashed out and slapped Makuwe.
Other technical staff members quickly intervened to restrain Chiragwi, who was eventually escorted away to watch the remainder of the match from the stands. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, allowing Dynamos to move out of the relegation zone.
FOOTBALL IS A GAME OF EMOTIONS, SAYS TAKESURE CHIRAGWI
Speaking after the match, Chiragwi blamed the incident on the intense pressure of the game. “Football is a game of emotions. There was chaos everywhere. Everyone was there, but unfortunately, I don’t know what exactly happened next,” he was quoted by Soccer24.
While attempting to provide context, the coach offered no valid justification for his physical aggression towards his player.
“Football is like that; even top managers in the world can do something like that in those moments.
“But there’s nothing to justify that incident. We wanted to play the game and make sure we get what we wanted, and try to control the players because even the substitutes were also frustrated.”
Ngezi is the club where former Kaizer Chiefs midfield general Tinashe Nengomasha serves as team manager.
Meanwhile, the incident bears resemblance to another recent occurrence involving poor conduct in the league. A few days ago, Yadah official Spencer Muvadi was banned from all football activities by the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League for physically assaulting goalkeeper Godknows Gurure.
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