Premier League officials speak about the first round

| Friday December 17, 2010 00:00

 

He says that unlike before, they did not experience problems with availability of stadiums. He is, however, worried by the media coverage, especially Btv, which he says is confined to the south. He says the standard of refereeing has improved a lot but more needs to be done during tense or high profile games. 'I suggest that the Premier League must categorise referees according to experience such that highly experienced ones handle tough games and derbies,' he says.

Lebogang Rapulane of Police XI says the managers of the Premier League have tried their best to utilise the minimum resources at their disposal. He says attendance at games has declined even  for big matches. He attributes this to poor performance by clubs. He says that although there is significant improvement in refereeing, the main worry is still the performance of northern referees' in matches involving southern clubs. 'It is shocking if you look at the way referees up north handle games against south teams and it is not surprising to hear remarks that south teams will go to [the] north hopeful and return empty-handed,' says a worried Rapulane. He has reservations on media coverage. He says the media tend to only focus on struggling clubs or those that are doing well.

Nico United spokesperson, Tiro Kganela, applauded the media for balanced coverage, though he is worried by the performance of referees. Unabatsho Mathalaza of ECCO City Greens is concerned about fixturing. He says that in the north, there can be no games for a whole weekend unlike the south. 'I am a bit uncomfortable in situations whereby Francistown teams are fixtured in Phikwe the whole weekend while there is no game in their stadium. I hope that will be looked into in second round,' he says. He says referees from the south are biased against clubs from the north. Ogolotse Tshupelo of Township Rollers' decries the last minute notification about change of venues. He says this leads to a low turn out at some games. 'We market games as teams and try by all means to mobilise support around the area where the game is fixtured but when the venue is changed at the 11th hour, it becomes disastrous as the message does not easily reach all corners within that short notice,' he says.

Baratiwa Matheothe of Miscellaneous regrets that the media is focused on the so-called big clubs only. He is not happy about the arrangements for the use of Selebi-Phikwe Stadium. He says it is financially inadvisable to host the First Division and Premier League matches at the facility in one day. 'We share the stadium with First Division clubs whose games are played before ours. We encounter problems in trying to remove their supporters from the stadium to pay afresh for a different game. The situation is worsened by the fact that club officials for those particular teams do not assist us and simply pack and go. From the peanuts that we make, Selebi-Phikwe Town council gets its share and how do we survive in such situations?' he asks.

Andrew Mokgatlhane of Notwane is however modest in his views. 'Referees are doing their best apart from a few who are still biased but I am optimistic that they will improve with time otherwise the first round went quite well,' he says. His main worry is the exorbitant charges for using the UB Stadium. He is keeping his fingers crossed that the National Stadium is completed soon so that they are relieved of the financial burden imposed by using the UB Stadium. Newly elected Extension Gunners' spokesperson, Nelson Radijeng is aggrieved by the late start of ticket sales. He says this contributes to congestion at ticket sales points at the stadium. 'I suggest that they do something about their tickets suppliers or pull up their socks if they are the ones causing the delay,' he says. He suggests a rotation of referees to improve their delivery. He says that southern clubs got a raw deal from referees in the north. He says media coverage in the first round was generally balanced. He appeals to clubs to continuously liaise with the media to share what they have. He says the media should also visit clubs to appreciate what they are doing as this will promote informative reporting.

Referees Commission chairperson Aloysious Sesikwe says reports of bias have reached his office but it is unfortunate that the solution they had proposed to the Premier League could not be implemented due to financial constraints. 'We had proposed rotational refereeing to avoid referees sticking to one area as that had far-reaching consequences but it is unfortunate that they had no funds to cover the running costs,' he explains. He says they had suggested to the Premier League Committee (PLC) that they bring clubs on board to discuss strategies on how to share the costs for the good of the game. Premier League general manager, Setete Phuthego confirms that the issue of referees' bias has been brought to his attention but due to financial constraints, there is nothing much his office can do for now. 'The issue of rotational refereeing has been shelved due to lack of funds and will be looked into once we secure funds. We are currently trying our level best to secure some funds,' he says. He says it is not wise for clubs to meet the cost of rotating referees because most of them are currently struggling financially. 'It was a good idea but looking at the current financial status of clubs, it is not attainable. You are also aware that clubs rely on gate takings to run their affairs and the fact that attendance at games has declined says a lot about their income,' says Phuthego.