Mozambican police fired tear gas on Sunday to quell alleged disturbances at the end of one of the matches in Moçambola, the country’s main soccer competition, hitting some players.
“What these police and military did is a sincere shame for our football. There were shots, the athletes fainted with tear gas. It is important that those who have the right to intervene,” he told Rádio Moçambique at the end of the meeting, Abneiro Ussaca, coach of Matchedje from Maputo, a team that went to play in Lichinga, capital of the northern province of Niassa, 1,500 kilometers to the north.
The radio team itself complained about the intervention, which forced it to temporarily abandon its teams and reporting stations, with one of the commentators calling it “overzealous”.
Maputo’s Matchedje led 1-0 with seven minutes of added time beyond regulation 90 minutes, when a penalty was awarded to give Ferroviário de Lichinga an equalizer.
The visitors challenged the decision, considering that the penalty did not exist and that the same referee had already harmed them in the same way in another match.
It was during protests between the Maputo Matchdje bench and the fourth official that tempers flared, prompting police to fire tear gas.
Some players were assisted inside the Lichinga Railway field, but there were no reports of injuries, at least in the first hours after the police intervention.
The seventh day of the Moçambola was also marked by the end of the winning streak that the Black Bulls leader had maintained since the beginning of the season.
The team of the Portuguese Hugo Martins conceded a goalless draw on Saturday imposed in the city of Beira by the local Ferroviário, in second place.
Source: TSF
