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Johannesburg - An ABC Motsepe League club in Limpopo faces being expelled from the league after its owner allegedly assaulted a match commissioner.
Joel Baloyi is recovering at home after he was allegedly assaulted by Ndengeza FC supporters and chairperson Akani Siweya last weekend.
Baloyi’s “crime” was to collect travel allowances for match officials after the game between Mighty FC and Ndengeza at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
Baloyi has since opened a case of common assault.
SA Football Association (Safa) legal officer Tebogo Motlanthe confirmed the incident and said he would charge the club next week.
“We view this in a very serious light and I will push for the club’s expulsion,” said Motlanthe.
But Siweya painted a completely different picture of the incident.
He claimed his supporters attacked Baloyi after witnessing him accepting what they perceived as a bribe from Mighty FC.
Siweya said his team had been at the receiving end of poor officiating and he could not restrain his supporters when they attacked the official.
“As much as I do not condone the incident, enough is enough with this kind of behaviour in football. If you want to see how rife corruption is in our football, come to our games because it is done openly,” said Siweya.
He said he was waiting to hear from Safa after submitting his report detailing the incident.
But he did not hold back, saying his previous reports had not yielded positive results.
“First, the game was supposed to start at 3.30pm according to the fixture we got from Safa, but the commissioner said it would start at 3pm. Then we were forced to start at 3.24pm.
“Twice, we came from behind, then our goal was disallowed before they were awarded a contentious penalty.
"Well, we accepted defeat and went to our changing room. But, to our surprise, the commissioner went back to the pitch and our supporters saw him receiving money from the Mighty chair in front of everyone and I confronted him.
"That’s when all hell broke loose as supporters attacked him,” said Siweya.
“What would have been your reaction if you were in my shoes and saw what was happening?” he asked.
“I’m not saying that what happened was right, but this system of giving officials money is corrupt and somebody needs to do something about it.”
He said that, as far as he was concerned, clubs gave match officials travel money before the game.
“All I know is that captains are the ones who are supposed to give match officials the travelling money before the game or at half time.
"A game should not resume until they have been given the money, but this was not the case.
“Sometimes we would think it’s a bribe when it is not.”
He said the only solution was to send professional referees to all the matches.
