Lekopanye Mooketsi
18 December 2008
The First Division South League committee chairman, Charles Chilisa, has said they will introduce fines next year to punish players and officials who violate regulations during games.
Under the new rule, a player who receives a yellow card is automatically fined P30 while those on red card will pay P50. Club officials given marching orders during games will pay a fine of P200. Chilisa said the two-game suspension for a card will still apply even with the introduction of the fine. He is happy that they have not received any protests or appeals and this means the level of discipline is high.
However, Chilisa said his committee is concerned about alcohol consumption by spectators during games. He asserted that drinking at games must stop and they are willing to bring in the police to help control the problem. He said those who sell beer at the playing grounds during games will be dealt with.
He expressed hope that they might secure sponsorship next year. The First Division League has been running without a sponsor for quite sometime. The last company to sponsor the league was Med-Rescue. Chilisa said the league will resume on January 24 with the first round ending the following weekend. The second round starts immediately at the beginning of February without any break. The league committee has already issued the draft fixtures for the second round.
The secretary for the First Division North League committee, Bashi Joseph said the competition has been running smoothly even without a sponsor. He said when the league resumes in January after the Christmas break, they would be left with about three games to finish the first round. He explained that there is only one disciplinary case after Orapa Bucks failed to turn up for the game against BR Highlanders on Saturday in Mahalapye.
The game was postponed to the next day because the ground was not available but Bucks did not pitch up.
There are outstanding games between Motlakase and TASC; and Satmos and Miscellaneous. The Motlakase-TASC game was disrupted by rain and the replay was abandoned midway in Selebi-Phikwe due to power failure. The game between Satmos and Miscellaneous failed to kick-off because the venue was booked for an AIDS awareness event.
Joseph said the only challenges they encountered so far were caused by factors beyond their control like the unavailability of grounds. He stated that there was one case of assault in the First Division North league concerning a Mahalapye Hotspur player, Tintos Raditsebe and the matter has since been dealt with.
The player was accused of assaulting a referee. He was dragged to the customary court to answer a charge of unlawful assault. He was also slapped with a suspension from November 13 to December 6. Joseph said they have not received any protests and the only major challenge is lack of sponsorship. "We are running the committee from our own expenses. We do not have money in our account," Joseph said.
Meanwhile, after a hectic schedule, the First Division League (North and South) goes on recess until early next month. So far, Killer Giants leads the log with 19 points in the south as Motlakase threatens to run away with the title in the north.
After 10, the unbeaten Motlakase with a 100 percent record is riding the crest of the waves and leads the log with the maximum 30 points.
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