Santos Protest Falls Flat
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday May 4, 2015 15:13
The decision was taken at a hearing that was held on Thursday evening at Lekidi Centre.
Santos were arguing that Fighters could not finish above them through soft points after the Mogoditshane side was awarded points for an abandoned game against Gantsi Terrors.
The Fighters versus Terrors match had to be called off after a Terrors player assaulted an assistant referee.
According to the arguments brought before the committee by Santos, the committee was accused of failing to implement play rules and regulations.
Santos explained that they were not against the results of their last match against Fighters or the results of Terrors match. The club argued that the committee should not have applied Article 5.2 of play rules and regulations alone.
The committee representative, Thebeetsile Mokgwa told Monitor Sport that they did not see any problem of applying Article 5.2 of play rules and regulations.
He explained that the article was used because the match between Fighters and Terrors was abandoned not cancelled.
He cited that the issue of misconduct by a Terrors player was forwarded to the Botswana Football Association (BFA) disciplinary committee where it was dealt with.
“The decision meant that Terrors lost the game and Fighters won it. Terrors were informed about the decision we took. Points that were awarded to Fighters were not soft points,” he said. Mokgwa said they made it clear to Santos representatives that all first division clubs should know playing rules and regulations.
He stated that it is not the duty of the committee to teach clubs the rules of the game. He said if they have difficulties in understanding them, they should seek assistance from the BFA legal advisor.
Mokgwa lamented that Santos protest was a clear sign that teams do not read play rules and regulations.