Africa-Press – Eswatini. Mbabane Highlanders might find themselves in hot water following some acts of misconduct by their fans two days ago.
The capital city giants are in danger of being slapped with a E45 000 fine if found guilty on three counts of miscount. This follows unsporting behaviour that is frowned upon by the 2023 Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Rules and Regulations. Highlanders’ fans could attract this fine for their actions as they watched the team go down 1-2 to Madlenya in their MTN Premier League opening game two days ago. The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Disciplinary Committee (DC) will be left with no option, but to enforce the law should the match officials’ reports capture the incidents. This may include Highlanders’ failure to control their fans, which carries a sanction of not less than E25 000.
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The other charges could be that of threatening to assault the referees and Madlenya Team Manager John Matsenjwa, who had to be whisked out of the stadium before the game ended. Meanwhile, the match officials assigned to the game were Kuhle Mkhatshwa, Celumusa Siphepho, Thembinkosi Magagula and Nhlanhla Zitha. The PLE rules and regulations spell out that any unbecoming behaviour towards them carries a minimum fine of E10 000, which is a similar punishment for the misconduct charge that brings the game into disrespute.
After the game, the match officials had to wait for about five minutes on the centre line, with police officers barricading them before they could walk into the dressing rooms.
In a similar case last season, Highlanders could not win the case where the referees were forced to stand in fear after the game, before they were whisked out of the Mavuso Sports Centre. They were subjected to some threats at half-time as they walked into the dressing rooms. The black and white capital city giants’ fans were dissatisfied with the referees’ decision on the day, such that Head Coach Solomon ‘Solly’ Luvhengo got booked after Madlenya scored the winner at 75 minutes. He seemed to believe that the scorer, Mncedisi Magagula, was offside.
Despite being a regular visitor to the DC last season, where they were fined E175 000, Highlanders have already incurred E15 000 fine during pre-season. This was on August 5 during the Bible Society Mayoral Charity Cup, where their fans invaded the pitch in wild celebrations for a successful bid to defend the title. Notably, PLE received E470 374 from protests and fines last season.
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