Zimbabwe football referee Norman Matemera has reported an attempt to bribe him into fixing a Confederation of African Football (CAF) fixture between Equatorial Guinea side Desportivo Niefang and Cote d’Ivoire’s Williamsville AC to CAF authorities.

Matemera and his assistants Brighton Nyika, Salani Ncube and Pilan Ncube who handled the April 18 CAF encounter in the Equatorial Guinea city of Bata which the hosts won 2-1 but still bowed out 3-2 on aggregate after having fallen 2-0 in the first leg in Cote d’Ivoire, rejected a cash bribe of $10 000 to ensure the Equatorial Guinea side won the match to advance to the group stage of the competition.

According to our sister paper the Herald, the matter is under investigation after Matemera reported the incident to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Zifa Referees Committee vice-chairman, Gladmore Muzambi hailed Matemera for his honesty.

“We are saying to our international referees, and indeed the local ones, we must always uphold the integrity tenets which entails recognising, resisting and reporting any attempts of match manipulation.

“You must recognise that there are attempts to fix a match, you must resist those attempts and you must report those attempts. In this regard we feel proud that our referees did just that,’’ Muzambi said.

Matemera, one of the top officials in Cosafa, becomes the second official from the region after South Africa’s Victor Gomes to resist the bribery carrot that had been dangled before him.

The 35-year-old Matemera is also the only Zimbabwean on the Caf Elite B panel, which enables him to be considered for such competitions like the African Nations Championships.

In December last year he came close to being selected among the crew that officiated at the Chan tournament in Morocco with a pulled muscle cruelly ruling him out of contention.

Gomes refused to be bribed ahead of another Confederation Cup tie between Plateau United of Nigeria and Algeria’s USM Alger.