Luciah Phahla
Maseru – The Premier League is yet to decide what punishment will be given to Matlama for the unruly behaviour of their supporters during Sunday’s Vodacom Premier League match against Lioli.
Lioli were leading the tie 2-1 with two minutes left to play when Matlama supporters descended onto the pitch and caused the match to be abandoned.
Supporters of both clubs subsequently clashed leading to the fatal shooting of one Matlama supporter.
Speaking on Monday, Premier League public relations officer Mosito Lekholoa said it is impossible to speculate on what punishment Matlama will receive as their offence is more serious than normal.
He said the league is still conducting thorough investigations.
Lekholoa added that the league wants to hand down a penalty that will serve as a lesson to other teams.
Last month Bantu were fined M20 000, half of which was suspended for the rest of the season, and ordered to play one match behind closed doors after ‘A Matšo Matebele’ fans assaulted match assessor Moeketsi Moholobela following a 1-0 defeat to Kick4Life in September.
The punishment was widely seen as light.
On Sunday, Matlama fans threw bottles and invaded the pitch in anger at match officials.
“It is not that easy to say we are going to give Matlama this or that sort of punishment right now because we are still doing investigations,” Lekholoa told thepost.
“It is difficult to say what the outcome will be. This is more serious than one would have thought, we have to investigate thoroughly. There is other information that we keep getting on things that shouldn’t have happened. We want to give a punishment that will be a lesson to others,” he added.
Lekholoa admitted refereeing decisions can irk supporters at times but said there are correct channels to follow when it comes to complaints about match officials.
“It is possible that the referee’s performance can anger the fans and make them act the way they did. But we are saying don’t fight,” Lekholoa insisted.
“Don’t take the law into your own hands. There are proper channels to be followed if you are not happy with the match official.”