John Ndlovu
The Premier Soccer League has come out guns blazing against hooligans who have taken to attack match officials.
This is after a series of incidents this season that has witnessed match officials being harmed by supporters.
The latest incident comes after Caps United fans ran amok attacking referee Jimmy Makwanda leaving him heavily bandaged after a 1-1 draw against Premiership debutants Simba Bhora at the giant National Sports Stadium at the weekend.
The exclamation was presented by PSL Communications and Media liaison officer Kudzai Bare in a statement this Tuesday who stated that they strongly condemn the harassment of match officials.
“We note with concern the recent attacks on match officials during Castle Lager Premier Soccer League matches. The Premier Soccer League strongly condemns any form of abuse, harassment or assault on match officials.”Bare said in the statement
Bare went on to advise clubs and supporters to respect match officials’ decisions and stated that if clubs are not happy with decisions made by referees they should lodge official complaints to appropriate authorities.
“The referees are there to apply the Laws of the game and their decisions must be respected by the clubs and all stakeholders. We advise clubs to lodge official complaints if they are not happy with Match Officials’ decisions.” He added
The PSL Communications and Media liaison officer also stressed out that the Premier Soccer League board would unleash the long arm of law and take disciplinary action on perpetrators to ensure that they eliminate the rogue behavior from the beautiful game.
“The Premier Soccer League is determined to ensure that such behavior is stamped out of the game and will be taking the necessary disciplinary action as provided in the PSL Rules and Regulations.” Bare also said
Recently PSL several teams were slapped with huge fines for various misdemeanors including invasion of the pitch by fans , Highlanders Football Club and Herentals FC were the most hit as they were slapped with fines of US$4000 and US$4875 respectively. While the FC Platinum gaffer Norman ‘Mushini Wemajuzi’ Mapeza was slapped with US$1 250 for blaming the referees and threatening to quit football for poor officiating.
Match officials have been at loggerheads with fans and players and even coaches for the way they handle games in the 2023 season something which has been condemned.
On the other hand the Green Machine, Caps United FC, also issued a statement on Monday reiterating the condemnation of the hooliganism by their fans at the Sunday match against Simba Bhora.