Bidvest Wits has demanded that the Premier Soccer League and the South African Football Association take action against the punching incident involving Kaizer Chiefs centre back Morgan Gould.
Gould allegedly punched Wits player Getaneh Kebede in the 60th minute of the league match at the FNB Stadium which Wits went on to lose 2-1. “We can confirm that, arising from the incident, we have written to both the league and Safa, demanding that immediate and exemplary disciplinary action be taken against both Kaizer Chiefs and Gould, as well as match referee, Lwandile Mfiki,” said Wits CEO Jose Ferreira.
Ferreira pointed out that the club and Kebede also reserved their right to take other legal steps as may be available to them as a result of this incident. “We have had an opportunity to review the video evidence as well as the match commissioner’s report.
“We demand that disciplinary action be taken, not only against Gould, for the brutal assault of our player, but equally important to us, against the match official as well as Chiefs,” Ferreira demanded. “In so far as the match official is concerned, we have asked Safa to take action against Mfiki for his failure to send Gould off for violent conduct.”
Ferreira said Wits had a reputation for not formally complaining about poor officiating, “but we feel that we have kept quiet for far too long and that we need to take formal steps against the persistent and continuous poor refereeing decisions in the league”.
He said the club understood and respected that match officials had a very difficult task. “But increasingly, the performances of our match officials in league matches have deteriorated to unprecedented levels,” he added.
“This situation is intolerable for us and accordingly, going forward, we will be formally demanding that action be taken against match officials, whenever we feel it is justified and as often as necessary, as opposed to keeping silent on these issues.”
