THE start of the new Premier Soccer League season might have seen fireworks, but that was not what the supporters had in mind.

Orlando Pirates' cup exit at the hands of SuperSport United on Saturday night set South African football back with ugly scenes of missile-throwing and firecrackers.

This after Benni McCarthy was sent off just before the interval following the former Bafana Bafana forward's unnecessary altercation with Franklin Cale.

Now the Buccaneers will be hauled over the coals by the PSL, who suspect that The Ghost were responsible for that disgusting behaviour on Saturday.

Their traditional rivals Kaizer Chiefs will also appear before the PSL disciplinary committee on September 7. This followed reports that the club's supporters "behaved in an unruly or unsporting manner in that they threw a variety of objects onto the pitch" during their MTN8 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns on August 5.

These appalling events have painted a very bad picture of SA football.

It is unfortunate that these missile-throwing incidents happened just over four months before the country hosts the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

What message are we sending to our African brothers and sisters? Are we hinting to them that we will resort to such barbaric acts whenever we disagree with match officials at Bafana Bafana matches during the Afcon finals?

We can't just ignore such embarrassing events and regard them as isolated incidents. The PSL should not only discipline the teams, but also these hooligans who masquerade as soccer fans.

They should be identified through surveillance cameras and be banned for life from coming anywhere near the stadiums. Our football can do without them.

To McCarthy, I say he must learn to control his temper and stop acting like a spoilt brat. Throwing his toys out of the cot every time he disagrees with referees' decisions is not doing his reputation any good.

Need we remind him that he is not Pirates' captain and therefore he should leave Lucky Lekgwathi to interact with referees.

Benni, you are not the only one who has emotions and you are involved in a game of emotions, so try to compose yourself.

I also want to take this opportunity to laud the Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) for their efforts to fight match-fixing and corruption in soccer in the region.

Their two-day workshop, which was attended by the 14 member countries in Kempton Park at the weekend, was described as positive and we are sure that it will yield great results in fighting the scourge.

Kirsten Nematandani acknowledged that match-fixing has been uncovered in other associations in the region and it is encouraging that the Safa president has vowed to help arrest the practice.