Surprise win in spotlight

Safa EP investigating high score for Stars against Matta Milan

AN investigation has been launched into the weekend’s high-scoring ABC Motsepe League fixture between Morning Stars and Matta Milan. Stars pulled a surprise 13-1 win over Milan in their last league match for the season.

The win though was not enough to get them out of the relegation zone, as they finished 15th on the log.

The Kwazakhele side’s fate will now depend on the log-winner’s promotion to National First Division.

Safa Eastern Cape secretary Isaac Klaas said both Stars and Milan were under investigation.

“We [e-mailed] both teams on Monday stating that they should not release their players until we have finished our investigation,” he said.

“They are also expected to explain what happened in that game.

“How is it possible that a team that has been struggling the whole season managed to score so many goals in the last 45 minutes of the game?”

Klaas said he was still awaiting responses from both sides.

Stars chairman Chippa Ngcolomba said the team had nothing to hide and were willing to assist Safa with whatever was required of them.

“We received the e-mail from Klaas and will respond to Safa,” Ngcolomba said.

“We have done what we were supposed to do to take ourselves out of the situation we were in, although we [must] now rely on other teams’ [performance] in the promotional playoffs to stay in the league.

“We understand the sentiments and unfortunately there is nothing we can do. Safa has a responsibility to ensure fair play.

“If they feel there is something fishy, they have the right to investigate. We have nothing to hide.”

The former Nelson Mandela Bay deputy mayor said he did not find anything shocking with his team’s score against Milan.

Stars struggled for goals in the first half of the match, but the second half rained goals.

“We had to pull out everything we had,” he said.

“If there is suspicion [about] our reward, Safa must look into it. “We did not even meet the target. “We thought other teams [would] score as well, so we needed to score as many goals as we could.”

Another team under investigation is Tornado.

The East Londoners failed to arrive for their game against Swartkops United Brothers but had an explanation for their inability to be there on time.

Klaas said: “[We e-mailed] Tornado regarding their absence from the fixture against Subs.

“They responded saying they had had a funeral for a member of their executive, and while travelling to PE they were delayed by the stop-andgoes on the coastal road.

“They arrived at the stadium just after kickoff time, but the game had already been called off.”