ISSA awaits report on crowd violence
ISSA DIRECTOR of Competitions George Forbes says the association cannot say as yet whether there will be sanctions for crowd indiscipline in the Champions Cup match between St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and Manchester High last Saturday. He said that this is because the body has not yet received a referee’s report on the game.
The game, which was the first of a double-header at the St Elizabeth High School (STETHS) Sports Complex, went to a penalty shootout after a 1-1 score at full time.
STATHS’s fourth kick of the shootout, taken by Jeremy Johnson, ricocheted off the post and into the goal, but Manchester’s goalkeeper, Xavio Johnson, bench and fans celebrated, unaware of the ball crossing the line. Manchester’s subsequent kick, taken by Alvin Strachan, was then saved by STATHS keeper Ricardo Laing. STATHS’s Tyrese Smith then cancelled his effort to make the score 4-2, meaning the game should have ended as the lead was now unassailable.
However, referee Doyen Cummings allowed a fifth kick for Manchester. Alex Gardner converted to make the score 4-3 but many believed that since Manchester were allowed their fifth kick, it meant the controversial attempt by STATHS earlier had not scored. In their minds, this would have meant the score was tied at 33. This led to crowd unrest and a bottle-throwing incident at the end of the game.
The other game between Charlie Smith and Clarendon College was also halted for about 10 minutes after Clarendon fans thought their team was wrongfully denied a penalty when Lamar Walker went down in the box. Fans again threw bottles, which led to the delay.
But Forbes insists there can be no disciplinary action unless a report is made available to them at ISSA.
“It’s an ISSA [-organised] game, but we haven’t gotten any reports. We have gotten no reports, so we are awaiting the report, as we cannot act without the report,” he said
‘ ... We cannot act without the report.’