Home | Sports | ‘MAGAWUGAWU’ ATTACKS REF, RISKS OVER E70K FINES

‘MAGAWUGAWU’ ATTACKS REF, RISKS OVER E70K FINES

11/02/2023 08:57:00 Machawe Fakudze

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MBABANE – Ugly scenes continue to prevail in local football.

This is after another referee, Wandile Mamba, was attacked during an MTN Premier League game between Mbabane Swallows and Moneni Pirates which was played behind closed doors at the Prince of Wales Sports Ground on Thursday. Swallows won 2-0 to jump to third position in the standings from fourth. Since this was a ‘no fans allowed’ match, it was Captain and fullback Menzi ‘Magawugawu’ Simelane who could not control his emotions as he faced his former team.

A long serving servant of Pirates, the trusted Skipper did the unthinkable when he verbally and physically attacked match referee Wandile Mamba after Swallows scored the second goal in the second-half. ‘Magawugawu’ uttered unprintable words towards the whistle man who appeared shocked by the conduct of the player who then held him by his shirt, still uttering words to him in discontentment of the alleged poor refereeing. When he was done with the attack, the referee rightfully gave him a red card with less than 20 minutes before the end of the match. Despite risking a huge fine for his team, he now has to sit out one match due to the red card.

For the attack, the experienced defender attracted over E70 000 fines for the Ikabort Masocha-led side should they be hauled before the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Disciplinary Committee (DC). The incident is in contravention of the MTN Premier League Rules and Regulations 2022/23 under Articles 10.6.3 and 10.6.4. These Articles carry a total fine of E75 000.

For manhandling the referee, the former Swallows defender contravened Article 10.6.3, which states that; Assaulting a referee, PLE official, player, Club official, Steward, supporter, fan, spectator or the use of excessive force shall be punished with a fine of not less than E50 000 by the DC. In addition, the offending Club shall be ordered to compensate the victim for any financial, medical and any other loss incurred due to the assault.

Article 10.6.4 provides that uttering abusive and/or obscene and/or derogatory words, spitting or emission of saliva onto any person or directed towards a person - a minimum of E25 000 by the DC. This also includes players and/or Team Official(s) where such player(s) and/or Team Official(s) incite fans, opposing players and officials, etc.

Frowns

The Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) frowns upon such misconduct as outlined by Football Manager Pat Vilakati that the escalating number of violence during games has been noticed by his office and they were working on a mechanism to eradicate such from happening in stadia.

‘Magawugawu’s incident has not been the only one recorded so far this season. Their game against Swallows was the third under the MTN Premier League banner to be played without supporters as per a ruling by the EFA DC.
The first game which was played behind closed doors was Mbabane Highlanders’ category ‘B’ match against Tambuti following another DC ruling. Highlanders were found guilty after a section of their supporters bayed for the blood of referee Mbongeni Shongwe at Mavuso Sports Centre. This was after Shongwe allowed a Manzini Sea Birds goal to stand when a hand was used by the striker, Sandumenzi Zwane, to help the ball past the goalkeeper Khanyakwezwe Shabalala. Zwane later admitted to this publication he used his hand to score.

This resulted in a portion of Highlanders fans baying for the blood of seasoned referee Mbongeni Shongwe. Swallows started the second round against Tambuti last Thursday at the Prince of Wales Sports Ground without fans after the DC found them guilty of their supporters’ behaviour soon after the ‘Big Derby’ fixture, which they lost 0-1 to Highlanders at Mavuso Sports Centre. The Swallows supporters attacked referee Thembinkosi Dlamini for disallowing Felix Badenhorst’s headed goal for an offside. Both Highlanders and Swallows were also fined E70 000 for the incidents.