A season of discontent

There is a growing number of players who are said to be unhappy and want away from DStv Premiership side, Maritzburg United, who recently parted ways with influential midfielder, Keagan Buchanan. A source close to the side said almost all the players whose contracts are coming to an end in June are unlikely to renew with the club. Buchanan, followed by long-serving defender Pogiso Sanoka, left the Blue Hearts earlier this month as they couldn’t agree to terms and salaries on new deals with the Pietermaritzburg-based club. “There are many other players who are unhappy at the club and want away. Some are quiet because they still have some time left on their current deals but are not happy with how the club run its affairs,” said the source.

Bergamo – Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said the referee ruined the match by sending off Remo Freuler (right) early on in his side’s 1-0 Champions League last-16, first-leg defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Freuler was sent off in the 17th minute for denying Real’s Ferland Mendy a goal-scoring opportunity – the earliest red card in the Champions League for over three years – and it was an uphill battle from there for Gasperini’s side.

The 10 men held on until four minutes from fulltime when Mendy curled in a fine winner.

The match, according to Gasperini, ended as a contest with Freuler’s dismissal. “I don’t know what the result would’ve been,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia. “But the game was completely ruined by an incident that was judged excessively.

“I just got banned for saying something in Serie A, if I say something now then Uefa will ban me for a month. But this is football suicide. We cannot have referees who’ve never played the game and don’t know the difference between a challenge and a foul.

“If they can’t tell the difference, then they ought to go and get a different job, frankly. They should get people who played football to referee instead,” addec the Atalanta boss.