Johannesburg – Silence can truly be deafening. And the Premier Soccer League’s silence around the Morgan Gould boxing saga is starting to make an extremely shrill noise inside my already addled brain.
As I write this, it is 10 days since Amakhosi defender Gould decked Bidvest Wits striker Getaneh Kebede in Amakhosi’s 2-1 victory at FNB Stadium. Gould has subsequently apologised and described the incident as an “freak accident” but it would take someone wearing severely gold-and-black tinted spectacles to adhere to his side of the story.
I was sitting in the stadium on that evening and have to confess that I missed the punch. But having had the bewildering experience of several replays, the only conclusion I can draw is that, as much as I admire Gould as a footballer and a person, he momentarily lost his head and thumped Kebede on the noggin.
This should have been dealt with instantly on the field by referee Lwandile Mfiki, the appropriate action being to dismiss Gould without hesitation.
Mfiki’s failure to do this was staggering – he awarded a free kick and nothing more – but this should still not prevent Gould receiving a heavy ban from the Premier Soccer League.
Except that thus far the PSL have done precisely nothing. They have said they are awaiting the report of the referee and match commissioner but at this point it is pertinent to ask whether the report is being delivered by snail-post.
In any case, does it really take a report for the PSL to notice that Gould has smacked a player in the face?
For the PSL to say they can only act if the incident is mentioned by the referee or match commissioner beggars belief. The league surely has as much access to television replays as anyone else, and by not having taken swift action against Gould, they are coming across as an organisation, excuse the pun, with all the punch of a non-alcoholic cocktail.
It might be that the PSL’s ludicrously slow disciplinary process will eventually churn its rusty wheel into action and take the appropriate action against the Chiefs defender.
If they do not, they are sending the following message to their players – it is okay to punch an opponent in the face, as long as the match officials don’t see it/choose to ignore it.
That is a deeply worrying thought.
There are those saying that Chiefs could ban Gould (they have apologised and started their own disciplinary process), but frankly it is not up to Amakhosi.
It is up to the league. And they need to wake up. Fast.
The Star