Malandela Mighty Heroes and DRA FC escape punishment by the skin of their teeth
ALEXANDRA - No charges will be brought against Mighty Heroes and DRA FC for the stadium chaos on 29 July.
Malandela Mighty Heroes and DRA FC will not be charged for the violence that erupted in the middle of their game on 29 July at the Alexandra Stadium.
This follows a lack of compelling evidence that would have allowed the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association (ANLFA) to press charges on both or either of the teams or their technical staff for the commotion.
The secretary general of the ANLFA, Mafika Morajane, told Alex News this after the association had reviewed the referee’s report on the incident.
“The disciplinary committee carefully scrutinised the referee’s report and came to the conclusion that there was insufficient information on the referee’s report to warrant charging the teams or either of them and/or their technical staff,” he said.
“This was more so especially when the referee red-carded the Mighty Heroes coach and his keeper. They both duly obliged and never caused any scene and hence they were punished enough for their sins on the day.”
The incident started when Mighty Heroes coach Buti Phiri refused to hand over the club’s soccer balls for continued use in the match, demanding that DRA also use their footballs too. This prompted a DRA player to search the bags of Heroes players for soccer balls which resulted in a punch-up by players on both sides.
When asked about the incident after the game, referee Donald Mphaki said he viewed the incident as nothing but a time wasting tactic from Phiri in refusing to hand over the soccer balls. “They [Heroes] were leading and we were close to the final whistle and hence the tactic to try and delay the game.”
The match ended in a 1–1 draw.
