No place for such louts in football
The Premier Soccer League should in the next coming days communicate its decision on the action it plans to take against Black Leopards owner David Thidiela, who launched a blistering attack on a match official.
Thidiela, seething with rage following the conclusion of his team’s game against Bloemfontein Celtic in Venda last Sunday, charged at referee Victor Hlungwani and threatened him, using derogatory and insulting language in the process.
Shockingly, he also told Hlungwani never to set foot in Venda again, for his safety would not be guaranteed. This is gross intimidation and warrants serious consideration not only by football authorities, but also the police.
Thidiela’s rant, littered with demeaning language and tribalistic vitriol, cannot be condoned. He has offered a terse apology and told us he has phoned Hlungwani to withdraw his insults.
But that can never be enough. An example should be made of this lout masquerading as a leader.
Our eyes are now firmly on the suits at the PSL, who yesterday convened a board of governors meeting which should, among others, deliberate on the matter.
Thidiela is a member of the league’s executive, and has served in that structure for far too long. He should be removed with immediate effect. To claim he merely “made a mistake” and thus should be forgiven will not a send a strong message out there that sportsmanship is paramount than anything else in the game.
Whatever affronted him, what right does Thidiela have of abusing a referee in that manner? The world over, match officials make mistakes – hence at this year’s World Cup, Fifa introduced the video-assistant referee (VAR) in a bid to minimise errors. Even that system was not perfect, so what about humans like Hlungwani who must make decisions in a split second?
Why is Thidiela, as a club owner and an executive of a moneyspinning league, not calling for the league to implement VAR to ensure errors are eliminated?
Instead he goes for the softest of targets, and in the process encouraging his players and others who look up to him to do the same. The only suitable punishment is to remove him permanently from his lofty position as one of the PSL leaders.