Orlando Pirates will be pitting their wits on the weekend against a coach who gained worldwide infamy after being involved in a bizarre festival of own goals in a single match when he was still a player.
Pirates are in Mauritius at the weekend to take on the Madagascar champions Disciples FC in the first leg of their African Champions League first round tie in a match that has been moved from Madagascar because there is no suitable venue for the game.
Disciples coach is Mamisoa Razafindrakoto, former captain of Madagascar and central defender, who earned notoriety when he helped score a world record 149 own goals in a Madagascar championship encounter.
He was banned along with several of his teammates and his coach after his club Stade Olympique de L'Emyrne lost the match 149-0 to AS Adema in the last game of the league championship on October 31, 2002, the players protesting at what they thought was biased refereeing.
24/25 CAF #ShowMeYourNumber Edition ☠️
— Orlando Pirates (@orlandopirates) August 14, 2024
The Following Players have been assigned the following numbers for @CAFCLCC
Sephelo Baloni
Melusi Buthelezi
Thabiso Sesane
Relebohile Mofokeng
Patrick Maswanganyi
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SOE coach Zaka Be, accused of orchestrating the debacle from the stands, was suspended for three years and banned from visiting stadiums for the same period while Razafindrakoto got as one season ban.
SOE, who were the defending champions, deliberately scored one own goal after another in a pre-determined protest over refereeing decisions that had gone against them during a four-team playoff to determine the national championship.
SOE, AS Adema, US Ambohidratrimo and Domoina Soavina Atsimondrano (DSA) played out a round-robin tournament at Adema's home ground in Toamasina over 11 days to decide the title, with Adema securing the championship.
The referee did not abandon the game but insisted the game be played to its entirety, ensuring a farcical 90 minutes, which caused the country embarrassment and led to Madagascar's sports ministry dissolving the Malagasy football association.