Bafana midfielder Makola banned for six months

by Staff Reporter

Friday Nov 15, 2019. 12:00

Cape Town City and Bafana Bafana midfielder Mpho Makola has been handed a six month ban by the Premier Soccer League Disciplinary Committee (DC) after he was found guilty of assaulting referee Abongile Tom.

Makola shoved Tom in the chest after the match official awarded a penalty to Kaizer Chiefs during a Telkom Knockout Last 16 game on October 19.

Tom only gave Makola a yellow card for the incident, which was deserving of a red, and the PSL DC laid a charge after the game. The former Orlando Pirates midfielder has also been ordered to pay the costs of the hearing.

Makola came on as a substitute in City’s 2-1 loss at Black Leopards last Sunday, which will potentially be his last game of the 2019/20 season.

It is a blow for new City coach Jan Olde Riekerink, with the 33-year-old Makola an experienced member of his midfield.

Makola is not the first player to receive a ban for a similar offence.

In 2001, Joseph Ngake and Thabo Mngomeni were suspended for an effective six months and four months respectively after the abandonment of a league fixture between the club, Orlando Pirates and Ajax Cape Town.

Referee Paulo Marques had abandoned the game, fearing for his safety, when surrounded by Pirates players after trying to book Ngake for a second time.