THE Premier Soccer League has sent a strong warning to coaches not to publicly criticise officials after they fined Steve Komphela and Clinton Larsen for their recent attacks on referees.
The two pleaded guilty at the PSL's disciplinary committee hearing on Tuesday to bringing the league and the South African Football Association into disrepute after they laid into officials.
Komphela and Larsen were fined R50000 each, while their teams, Free State Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic, were fined R25000 each, both suspended for 12 months.
In addition, they were ordered to address letters of apology to the PSL, the sponsors, the referees and Safa.
Larsen and Komphela were charged following their outbursts against officials in their season-opening matches early this month.
Larsen charged at referee Daniel Volgraaf as he left the field at half time, disgruntled by the standard of refereeing in his side's 3-1 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns.
He felt particularly aggrieved by the decision to send off Celtic's John Arwuah... and made his frustrations known.
''People are sending us messages saying that was a 50-50 challenge and shouldn't have been a red card.
"This confirms what people have been saying about Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns being favoured," Larsen said.
Komphela was equally scathing in his criticism of Victor Gomes, who was handling their match against SuperSport United, saying: ''With a referee like this, who needs an opponent?
"This guy is the referee of the season, if I'm not mistaken. It's a disgrace whoever puts him there.
"If this is the best that comes out of South Africa, the country has no quality."
But the outcome of the disciplinary committee hearing is likely to silence the coaches who often come under fire from the irate supporters whenever their teams lose, be it due to under-performance or poor officiating.
PSL DC cracks whip
THE Premier Soccer League has sent a strong warning to coaches not to publicly criticise officials after they fined Steve Komphela and Clinton Larsen for their recent attacks on referees.
The two pleaded guilty at the PSL's disciplinary committee hearing on Tuesday to bringing the league and the South African Football Association into disrepute after they laid into officials.
Komphela and Larsen were fined R50000 each, while their teams, Free State Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic, were fined R25000 each, both suspended for 12 months.
In addition, they were ordered to address letters of apology to the PSL, the sponsors, the referees and Safa.
Larsen and Komphela were charged following their outbursts against officials in their season-opening matches early this month.
Larsen charged at referee Daniel Volgraaf as he left the field at half time, disgruntled by the standard of refereeing in his side's 3-1 defeat against Mamelodi Sundowns.
He felt particularly aggrieved by the decision to send off Celtic's John Arwuah... and made his frustrations known.
''People are sending us messages saying that was a 50-50 challenge and shouldn't have been a red card.
"This confirms what people have been saying about Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns being favoured," Larsen said.
Komphela was equally scathing in his criticism of Victor Gomes, who was handling their match against SuperSport United, saying: ''With a referee like this, who needs an opponent?
"This guy is the referee of the season, if I'm not mistaken. It's a disgrace whoever puts him there.
"If this is the best that comes out of South Africa, the country has no quality."
But the outcome of the disciplinary committee hearing is likely to silence the coaches who often come under fire from the irate supporters whenever their teams lose, be it due to under-performance or poor officiating.
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