PICS: Blue Aces FC and official handed stiff sentences for referee assault
ALEXANDRA - A Disciplinary Committee of the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association hands stiff sentences for the assault of an assistant referee.
Blue Aces FC was fined after the club was found guilty of the assault of an assistant referee by some of its supporters and technical staff.
A club official, Aaron Mavuso was also fined for his part in the assault. The fracas followed the awarding of a hotly contested penalty to Aces opponents Malandela Mighty Heroes in a match at the Alexandra Stadium on 5 August. Mighty Heroes won the match 3–0, two of the goals coming from penalties.
When the referee blew for full time, some Aces supporters and technical staff invaded the pitch and assaulted the assistant referee.
Mavuso and an unidentified woman who were seen assaulting the assistant referee were called to appear before the disciplinary committee of the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association (ANLFA). Only Mavuso attended but the woman was nowhere to be seen.
The committee came to the conclusion that Mavuso and the club, including the woman, were guilty of the assault of the assistant referee. Mavuso also took the rap for the woman.
Aces were found guilty of failing to control their supporters and members and the club was fined R5 000, R2 500 of which was payable immediately while the balance was suspended for 18 months.
This means that within this period, Aces must not be found guilty of a similar offence or this suspended sentence will automatically come into effect.
For his part, Mavuso was found guilty and fined R10 000, half of which was payable immediately while the balance remains suspended for 18 months on condition that Mavuso is not found guilty of a similar offence within that period.
Mavuso was further banned from all football activity, be it organised by the mother body, the South African Football Association (Safa) or the ANLFA, for the next 18 months.
He and the club were also warned that if they were found guilty of similar offences before the expiry of 18 months, Mavuso risked being banned for life from all football activities while the club risked being expelled from the ANLFA.
The incident was the second in a week in which violence had broken out in a soccer match in Alex.
On 29 July, a fight broke out between players of DRA FC and Malandela Mighty Heroes when the technical staff of Mighty Heroes refused to hand over soccer balls to be used in the match.
The two clubs escaped harsh punishment by the skin of their teeth when, after assessing the referee’s report on the incident, the ANLFA found that there was insufficient evidence to formulate charges.
Do you think the punishment meted against Aaron Mavuso and Blue Aces matches the crime committed? Tweet @AlexNewsZA to share your opinions.
