Something is wrong somewhere

The suspension of the two key players (Adane and Saladin) for 1 and 2 years respectively is not only a tragedy, but also a disaster. It is a disaster not only for St George club, but also to the national team. A player suspended for two years can never ever play again. These are good players. They are not easily replaceable. It was in 1982 we participated in the nations cup. We have not been in the African Cup of Nations for 28 years. The national team has no good striker. Suspending the top striker of the country FOR TWO SOLID YEARS at this time when the national team needs good players for the upcoming qualification game against Nigeria, guinea and Madagascar is a sabotage against the national team by itself. It is utter indifference to the success of the nation in soccer. 

There are many other ways of disciplining our young and promising players. I am not saying no fault is committed on that fateful day. Yes, the players were at fault even though the referee and the federation have contributed to the disaster. Let us see the genesis of the problem. A goal was scored. A St George player said to the referee it was off-side. The player red carded. Another player said to the referee, can’t we complain? Why is red-carded? The second red card given so on and so forth. 

According to my sources, this same referee had red carded three St George players on another game earlier on. On another note, there are disciplinary issues pending with the federation i.e, not yet decided upon for a long time. This time it was St George on target and it took them just three or four days to arrive at their harsh and irrational conclusion. If asked why the rush, they have no answer. The prescribed penalty under the law is from 6 months up to 2 years. Why the maximum? They have no answer again. Moreover they didn’t bother themselves to talk to the players. I heard Saladin has a serious accusation against the referee. They denied him his right to be heard before being penalized. Maybe their rule says they can decide only on the report of the referee and the commissioner. 

The commissioner can’t hear what the discussion was about between the referee and the players. The referee can easily make up a story and fabricate false accusation. His report needs to be balanced. In view of this, talking to the players could have straightened the record. The Bible reads, “any story sounds true until you hear the other side of the story which straightens the record”. Anyways, the club and the players have appealed against the harsh decision which actually was not meant to educate or reform the players but to take vengeance both against the club and the players. I really don’t know why they hate the club to this extent. I heard from different sources the club had long ago submitted its complaint against referee bamlak. If that is true, the federation shouldn’t have assigned that referee on that day. 

The federation had to investigate St George’s complaint before assigning the referee. The club, St George, is a good one, it contributes a lot to soccer development and improvement, it helps clubs with financial problem. It helps individuals with severe injury. It sends players of other clubs for treatment abroad. This club does a lot of good things to help the nation, other clubs and individual players. The club spends several hundreds thousands dollars for treatment of players. Ali of Buna could be treated by the help of this club. Sheik Dr Mohamod Al Amuudin helped all those players on behalf of St George. It is because St George is there this gentleman could help many players. Something is wrong somewhere. We need to call a conference with the federation and other clubs to discuss why they are so much against this club. 

LONG LIVE ST GEORGE!
Guangul Teshager