PSL
Ngcobo: Football is dirty
2009-11-20 16:34
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Cape Town - “Football in this League is dirty to the core and who will clean it, I don’t know” - these are former PSL general manager Ace Ngcobo’s words as he leaves the PSL.
Ngcobo, who was on voluntary leave, has quit the PSL after a meeting with the CEO, Kjetil Siem, earlier on Friday.
“The biggest comfort for me is that I will walk out of that door knowing that the are people properly capacitated to run the football,”
Ngcobo has just told the media in a press briefing to announce his departure.
Siem admits that the lie-detector test Ngcobo failed on Thursday in a bid to clear his name contributed to the decision to quit the general manager post. Ngcobo was accused by suspended PSL referee Jonas Nhlapho, that Ngcobo promised to make him referee of the year if he could reveal referees and clubs that are involved in match fixing, among other things.
“He was not pushed,” Siem states. “I must admit that I told Ace that it would be difficult to continue looking at the picture of what happened on Thursday (the failed test). It could hurt us more than helping us,” Siem says.
Ngcobo says he doesn’t regret the decision to go through the lie-detector test.
“I have no regret… those who are saying I failed are not right. It was inconclusive as I reacted with anger to the question about Pirates,” Ngcobo says, referring to whether he had asked Nhlapho if he was taking bribes from Orlando Pirates.
Ngcobo also had a word for those out to tarnish his personal friend, the PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza.
“I get emotional when people try to tarnish his image,” the former referee says.
It has been suggested that Ngcobo has lots of information regarding match-fixing, but says he won’t share it on the public domain.
“I have no obligation to share that information with anybody. It was gathered privately,” he says.
So he is walking away with the information that could help rid the League of corruption?
“I’m seriously considering giving a copy to the League, not the original,” he responds. “But I don’t want any journalist to call me looking for it… I’m not a reckless individual,” he says.
“Football in this League is dirty to the core and who will clean it, I don’t know,” and with those words Ngcobo concluded, leaving behind many unanswered questions regarding the issues of match fixing.