TACKLE BREAKS SALI’S LEG
Kaizer Chiefs’ Lorenzo Gordinho tackles Buyile Sali. Chippa United are demanding action be taken against Kaizer Chiefs defender Lorenzo Gordinho after the Port Elizabeth team’s midfielder Buyile Sali had a leg broken last week.
Gordinho made a studs-high challenge on Sali early in the game between the two clubs in Nelspruit on 15 April and while he looked to connect with the ball, he also sent the diminutive Chippa player sprawling.
Sali, 27, had the bone above his an- kle broken in the challenge and is out for the rest of the season, prompting a letter from Chippa United to both the Premier Soccer League and South African Football Association seeking retrospective action against the 22-year-old defender.
Chippa want Gordinho sanctioned and also a review of referee Kulusande Qongqo’s decision and performance in the match.
SAFA officials say they can only take action against the referee after a review of the match by a special review committee.
But the Premier Soccer League’s prosecutor could charge Gordinho as happened in the past to players like Gary Goldstone, Fikru Tefera, Collins Mbesuma, Denis Onyango and Morgan Gould.
But such prosecution has been infrequent and inconsistent.
Gould was the last to be prosecuted, handed a two-match ban and record-breaking R100 000 fine for punching Wits striker Getaneh Kebede in 2013.
Gould was found guilty of assault, after being charged some two weeks after he punched the Ethiopian on the jaw and knocked him cold in a bizarre incident during a league game at Soccer City, which the referee ignored.
In 2008, the PSL first prosecuted a player for assault when Gary Goldstone of Maritzburg United broke the jaw of Kaizer Chiefs’ forward Tshepo Bulu with a stiff-arm elbow that was not spotted by the referee at the game.
It took less than week from the time of the incident for Goldstone to be handed a two-match ban and R10 000 fine.
It was a decision that was hailed at the time after a wave of public protest at the prospect of Goldstone getting off scotfree just because the match officials had not seen the assault or ignored it.