The Kermit Erasmus episode has thrown up some interesting
talking points.
For those who missed it, it was a shocking thing to see on a football pitch.
Cape Town City ace Erasmus was terrorising Highlands Parks players early in their PSL clash at Cape Town
Stadium on Tuesday night.
He was too hot to handle for the visitors and he was fouled in 17th minute, wrestled off the ball until the referee finally blew the whistle for a free-kick.
The ex-Bafana Bafana striker rolled the ball forward as he surveyed his options for a quick restart.
But before he could kick the ball, Highland Park’s Mothobi Mvala strolled up from behind him and picked up the ball.
Erasmus saw his man, shouted: “Hey” at the player and proceeded to kick through Mvala as hard as he could.
It was stunning to see.
And the fallout from the
incident has been just as controversial.
City’s Twitter account firstly sent out a misleading tweet that read: “18 RED CARD
Kermit Erasmus after some pushing and shoving with Mvala who went down like a movie character.”
But fans weren’t having it and hit out at the club, accusing the club of condoning Erasmus' vicious kick.
After the match, coach Benni McCarthy defending his player say he was “provoked”.
No doubt, the way that Highlands Park went about harrying the City players, Erasmus could understandably have been frustrated.
But when Benni brought up how Highlands Park players had ended star midfield duo Thabo Nodada and Roland Putsche’s season in a February Nedbank Cup clash, it takes on a more sinister tone.
Now I’m not saying that Benni told his manne to get their own back against the Lions of the North, but if he had brought it up before the match, you could say that the players were primed for a physical encounter.
A siege-like mentality can be a positive thing, but every tackle cannot be seen as a
provocation.
Now to another point.
What is Mvala doing trying to delay the free-kick?
The player came up from behind Erasmus and right in front of the referee went to pick up the ball. His team wasn’t in possession of the ball and had no right to be there.
Mvala’s conduct was a blatant attempt to stop City from restarting the game quickly.
Referees should not be allowing this behaviour.
It will be interesting to see what will happen once a disciplinary hearing is heard for this incident.
Will the PSL take into account Mvala’s infringement? Will they hear Benni’s case that Highlands Park was out to
provoke City with impunity after ending two of their
players’ seasons?
Will the PSL look at referees for not stamping out gamesmanship and repeated heavy tackles?
We’ll have to wait and see.
But the irony now is that if Kermit gets more than his warranted three-match suspension for his straight red, Highlands Park will have ended the season’s of three City players.