Chippa’s plea over reckless tackle rejected
CHIPPA United’s attempt to seek punishment for Kaizer Chiefs defender Lorenzo Gordinho after a leg-breaking tackle on their midfielder Buyile Sali had been rejected by the Premier Soccer League (PSL)‚ officials said yesterday.
Chippa wanted the league to take retrospective action after the tackle at the Mbombela Stadium on April 15 as well as review the performance of referee Kulusande Qongqo. Gordinho received a caution for the challenge. But the club have been told by the PSL that the yellow card was an appropriate sanction for the tackle after a review of the incident.
Sali‚ 27‚ had the bone above his ankle broken in the challenge and is out for the rest of the season‚ prompting Chippa to seek redress against the 22year-old defender.
The PSL referred complaints against referees to the South African Football Association’s review committee, media officer Lux September said.
He said they were not empowered to change the referee’s decision but only to sanction him or recommend a possible misconduct charge against the player.
In the past, PSL prosecutors took retrospective action after violent acts during play but this has become infrequent.
Morgan Gould‚ then playing in defence for Chiefs‚ was the last to be prosecuted in such a manner by the league.
He was handed a two-match ban and a record R100 000 fine for punching Wits striker Getaneh Kebede in 2013.
Gould was found guilty of assault after being charged two weeks after the incident.
The defender knocked the Ethiopian out cold in a bizarre incident during a league game at Soccer City. The referee took no action. In 2008‚ the PSL first prosecuted a player for assault when Gary Goldstone, of Maritzburg United, broke the jaw of Chiefs forward Tshepo Bulu with a stiff-arm elbow that was not spotted by the referee.
It took less than A 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 scot-free just because the match officials had not seen the assault or ignored it.
But in Gordinho’s case the referee did take action‚ although the caution was seen by Chippa to be insufficient punishment for such a reckless tackle.