Kaizer Chiefs, not content with concessions made in an appeal to the South African Football Association (Safa) against the penalties imposed on the club by the Premier Soccer League for the violence and vandalism of their supporters, on Wednesday informed South African soccer’s controlling body they were taking the controversial issue to arbitration.
This was announced by Safa CEO Raymond Hack, who confirmed the arbitration process would be considered final and binding — with Chiefs’ action likened to a two-edged sword because the arbitrator could make the existing punishment on Amakhosi more severe or more lenient.
The PSL disciplinary committee initially fined Chiefs R100 000, brought into effect a previous R45 000 suspended fine and ordered Chiefs to play home games against Mamelodi Sundowns and Black Leopards without spectators as a result of the widespread vandalism among their supporters during a Supa8 defeat against Bloemfontein Celtic.
The punishment of playing a third game in front of empty terraces as a result of damage estimated between R350 000 and R600 000 by FNB Stadium general manager Dennis Mumble was suspended by the disciplinary committee on the proviso that Chiefs were not found guilty of such further incidents of violence and vandalism.
Chiefs appealed the sentence to Safa and, in the process, won a case in the high court that resulted in last Sunday’s game against Sundowns being postponed.
At a protracted eight-hour, 30-minute hearing on Monday night that extended into the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Safa appeal board upheld the PSL’s disciplinary decision in principle — with the one proviso that only the Leopards game be played with spectators locked out and the suspended portion of the three-game penalty increased from one to two matches.
PSL CEO Trevor Phillips on Wednesday appeared to back down after being the subject of a scathing attack by Chiefs chairperson Kaizer Motaung and said the league had been prepared to accept the decision of the Safa appeal board — ”but we will obviously defend the case at arbitration level”.
Other PSL sources, however, suggested Chiefs had achieved the cynical objective of now being allowed to play Sundowns unaffected by the crowd ban — something that could have cost them R1-million — and were being greedy in going to arbitration, particularly as they had pleaded guilty to all charges initially.
But the arbitrator is empowered to increase the sentence on Chiefs if he sees fit — and the case could backfire on Amakhosi.
Another contentious issue is whether Chiefs defied Fifa regulations by going to the high court — with world soccer’s controlling body specifically decreeing against such action and threatening expulsion or suspension for the parties involved. — Sapa