An Orlando Pirates co-coach has been slapped with a warning letter by the Confederation of African Football for his remarks after a Confederation Cup
An Orlando Pirates co-coach has been slapped with a warning letter by the Confederation of African Football for his remarks after a Confederation Cup encounter in April.
CAF was responding to Simba’s official complaint regarding the ‘unsporting’ behaviour by the Bucs tactician following Wekundu wa Msimbazi’s narrow 1-0 win over the Soweto giants in the Confed Cup quarterfinal first leg clash in Tanzania.
Coach Mandla Ncikazi pulled no punches in his post-match conference about four weeks ago, claiming that Pirates were mistreated by the hosts, Simba, during their brief stay in Tanzania.
“As Africans, let’s change this mentality that when opponents come to Tanzania, you so hostile to them that you treat them like animals, so inhumane, everywhere you go, we treated so badly,” he added.
Simba CEO Barbara Gonzalez didn’t take the remarks lightly as she lodged a complaint as a representative of the club. Subsequently, CAF announced that they acknowledged Simba’s grievance, and the African football mother body opted to hit Ncikazi with a warning.
CAF has since released the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings and confirmed that a warning will be issued to the Bucs co-coach, in a letter issued by the football body's disciplinary board:
CAF received a complaint from Simba SC regarding some comments made by the Coach of Orlando Pirates during the post-match press conference.
CAF has studied the complaint in question as well as the response received by Orlando Pirates club.
CONSIDERED:
I. CAF´s competence to the Case
Pursuant to articles 40, 42 and 57 of the CAF Statutes, as well as article 3 and 87 of the CAF Disciplinary Code, the CAF Statutes, Disciplinary Code and Regulations are applicable to this procedure.
The competence of the CAF Disciplinary Board results from the following articles:
Pursuant to article 10 of CAF disciplinary code “the disciplinary Board is authorized to sanction any breach of CAF Regulations which does not come under the jurisdiction of another body of the Confederation”.
Article 3 of the CAF Disciplinary Code provides that “By participation in the various CAF competitions, all the persons referred to in article 2 para 2 above acknowledge and accept that they are bound by this code inclusive of any regulations relating to any specific CAF competitions as well as any directives issued by the CAF Secretariat on behalf of the CAF Executive Committee, inclusive of the Laws of the Game as issued by the International Football Association Board.
In the present case, and in accordance with the aforementioned articles of CAF Disciplinary Code, the CAF Disciplinary Board is competent to deal with the case;
II. Relevant provisions to the Case
The following relevant provisions apply to the case at hand. Pursuant to Article 82 of CAF disciplinary code “National associations, clubs, officials and members, as well as their players, shall respect the principles of loyalty, integrity, sportsmanship and ethics”.
DECISION:
- CAF Disciplinary Board decided to address a warning letter to Mr. Mandla Ncikazi regarding his comments towards CAF.
The two-legged tie ended 1-1 on aggregate as Pirates won the return leg at Orlando Stadium 1-0 to book a place in the semis, where they beat Libyan side Al Ahly Tripoli 2-1 over two legs to reach the final.
Ncikazi’s troops will tackle Morocco’s RS Berkane on Friday in a battle to be crowned Confed Cup champions.
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