Weekend antics do the sport a disservice

Last weekend was one to remember in the Absa Premiership, with so many goals and brilliant moments that made us fall in love with the beautiful game all over again. But it was spoiled by two incidents which brought the sport into disrepute.

Let me put it this way: It is all well and good that Black Leopards chairman David Thidiela has apologised and committed to undergoing counselling aimed at helping him with anger management, but he has lost some of the respect he had earned.

This was after the unfortunate incident following his team’s defeat to Bloemfontein Celtic last week. He went on a mad rant and insulted referee Victor Hlungwani, using language which is divisive and uncalled for by referring to Hlungwani’s ethnicity in a slanderous manner.

He went on for over four minutes and said he didn’t care what the consequences of his utterances would be, or if he was being recorded, as he felt he was setting things right.

Thidiela believed Hlungwani had been unfair in his officiating, alleging it was not the first time he had noticed Hlungwani making decisions against his side.

Regular readers of this column will know the respect I have for Mr Thidiela. I once even dedicated

Sibongiseni Gumbi

a piece to him because of the hard work and financial sacrifice he has endured for the beautiful game, and this recent incident was hard for me to swallow.

As a leader in the community, he should have done better. There have previously been issues of ethnic tensions in Vhuwani between VhaVenda and MaTsonga and it took a lot for fences to be mended, and his careless words could re-ignite that nonsense.

I hope his apology and commitment to undergo counselling is not just his way of pouring water to calm the fire he has started, which could burn him.

His deed also has the potential to undo all the good work he has done over the years, and his apology had better be sincere.

I guess the past weekend was not good for us because there are also allegations faced by Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane, who is accused of punching security personnel in Durban. This was after an altercation between Mosimane and a security official following a field invasion by some spectators.

AmaZulu confirmed their head of security had opened a case against him.

While we wait for the matter to be settled in court, Mosimane remains innocent, and I sincerely hope he didn’t do it.

Both Thidiela and Mosimane are good for football. Their efforts in growing the game have not gone unnoticed, but if they cannot control their emotions and end up doing things that bring the game into disrepute, then they should just disassociate themselves.

Football already has enough hooligans in the stands. We don’t need them on the field, in the dugout or in the boardrooms.