Orlando Pirates have been slapped with a R100,000 fine by the PSL Disciplinary Committee for spectator misbehaviour during a recent match.
The fine stems from an incident during Pirates’ match against Magesi FC in the Carling Knockout Cup, where fans threw missiles at match officials.
The surprising 3-2 loss at the hands of Magesi FC saw the Buccaneers eliminated from the Carling Knockout in the first round at Orlando Stadium in Soweto last month. Frustrated by what they perceived as poor refereeing decisions, Pirates supporters expressed their discontent by throwing objects at the match officials.
On Monday, PSL revealed that Pirates appeared before the league’s Disciplinary Committee [DC]. The Soweto giants pleaded guilty to the charges of spectator misbehavior and were subsequently found guilty by the PSL DC.
Although Pirates were spared a more severe punishment due to their guilty plea and first-time offender status, the PSL still mandated that the club pay a fine of R100,000. Half of this fine is suspended for one year, provided that Pirates are not found guilty of the same offence during the suspension period.
PSL PUNISHES PIRATES FOR MISSILE-THROWING
“This is a further DC update. I can confirm that earlier this morning, Orlando Pirates Football Club appeared before the PSL DC to answer to charges of spectator misbehaviour arising from a missile-throwing incident wherein the spectators threw an assortment of missiles directed at the match officials in their match against Magesi FC,” said Zola Majavu, PSL prosecutor.
“Orlando Pirates Football Club pleaded guilty as charged, and they were subsequently convicted accordingly. Having listened to the submissions regarding aggravation and mitigation of sanction and mindful of the fact that they pleaded guilty and they appeared as first offenders, the PSL DC ruled as follows:
“They will find a monetary amount of R100,000, of which half is suspended for a period of 12 months on condition that during the period of suspension, they are not found guilty of the same offence. If they were to re-offend, the suspended portion would become immediately effective, as well as an additional sanction for the new offence.
“They were further ordered to carry the costs of the DC proceedings, which are usually administratively computed and added to the R50,000 fine, which is effective immediately. That is the end of the release and there’ll be no further commentary beyond this.
RELATED STORY: Guilty Chiefs told what to do by PSL after fans’ missile-throwing incident
