Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has castigated some sections of the Warriors fans who they claimed were “disguised in military uniforms” following the pandemonium that ensued before the Zimbabwe’s AFCON qualifier against DRC on Tuesday night.

The Warriors spirited to a 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The match was marred by crowd trouble at the National Sports Srtadium entry points with fans overwhelming the security resulting in a huge number of them entering the match through undesignated points for free.

ZIFA came under fire for the stadium fracas.

The football association’s communications manager, Xolisani Gwesela, sprung to the defense of the mother board putting the blame on unforeseen challenges that were beyond their control.

ZIFA, in a statement said it was saddened by the incident and promised to make corrective measures next time.

“The Association regrets the unfortunate crowd trouble and stampede which occurred at some entry points.

“We are very delighted and thankful that no life was lost,” reads part of the statement.

ZIFA, through Gwesela claimed that they had done everything according to the book before they were overwhelmed by fans.

“It became very difficult to serve more than 20 000 fans at once as this is impossible with the current gates we have at the National Sports stadium.

“We also experienced network and connectivity challenges at our payment points and this resulted in the slow processing of payments which culminated in restlessness and crowd trouble,” Gwesela said in a statement.

Gwesela blamed an unruly section of the fans who were “dressed in military uniforms” for assisting in crowd trouble.

“Some rogue elements who were dressed in military uniforms and some unscrupulous stewards also caused mayhem and assisted fans to enter the stadium using undesignated points, demanding bribes in return.

“In a bid to avert a stampede and curb loss of life, the committee also authorised that some gates be opened for fans to enter free of charge,” he said.

Gwesela said ZIFA have enough evidence to support their allegations that a section of rowdy elements within the uniformed forces played a part in crowd trouble.

“We have visual evidence of the criminal behaviour displayed by rogue elements who were in military uniform and we will present it to relevant authorities for further action,” he said.

Gwesela said they have learnt the hard way and will put corrective measures to avert the crisis in future.

“Going forward, we endeavour to counter such scenarios by introducing pre-match ticket sales and availing adequate entry points.

“To avoid recurrence of Tuesday’s unfortunate events, all stakeholders involved in the organisation of national team matches have agreed to reactivate the Disaster Management Committee,”he said.