Now that ‘justice’ is served, Electric City is eager to restore its credibility following its alleged involvement in one of the biggest scandals in amateur football dubbed as the ‘Goalgate scandal’.
This comes after Safa Cape Town decided not to pursue the matter against Electric City regarding the allegations of match-fixing that has been “amicably resolved.”
“Following a thorough review and upon consideration of the representations made by Electric City’s attorney Mr Bjorn Harmse it was concluded that Electric City United Football Club did not participate in Match Fixing and/ or committed any other offence as prescribed in terms of the statutes, rules and code of conduct of Safa Cape Town, in relation to the match that was played on the 29th of October 2023,” the region confirmed this in a joint statement released recently.
This appetite to wrap up the case was expedited after Electric City’s Attorney Bjorn Harmse engaged with Safa CT’s president Bennett Bailey at the Engen KO Challenge at the Erica Park Sports Complex on Sunday.
Harmse stated that perhaps the case have dragged on for too long and could have been handled better.
“I am very satisfied with the mature manner in which my client, in fact, both parties acted in order to resolve the issue,” Harmse told No Bones with Jones. “It is important to act in the best interest of the game,” he added.
Meanwhile No Bones with Jones can divulge that some of the details that emerged following the meeting with the Mother body is that the five-time consecutive champion from the Greater Blue Downs LFA received an apology for the distress and inconvenience that was caused after they have been implicated on charges of match-fixing and bringing the game into disrepute.
The club’s coach Mario van der Vent insisted that this was a wasted exercise but they needed legal assistance to vindicate themselves.
“We are prepared to spend money because we felt we fought a right cause and we never did anything wrong,” Van der Vent pointed out to our website. “Our name has been dragged through the mud for no reason,” the club’s coach of the senior squad added.
The ‘Goalgate scandal’ refers to a probe of the freakish score lines after 58 goals were scored in two matches in Group H, dubbed as the “Group of Death” which included Rebels FC, Two For Joy, West Coast, Electric City and Diadora FC.
Things started to get interesting in the last group matches when Two For Joy and Diadora were both deadlocked on seven points but the former had a superior goal difference. Two for Joy had to beat West Coast and Diadora needed to replicate that against Electric City.
The eyebrows were raised in the second half of Diadora and Two for Joy’s respective matches when it was raining goals in both matches which had the tongues wagging. In the end, Diadora FC topped the group with a 35-1 scoreline and progressed to the quarterfinals on goal difference of +38, while Two For Joy had +36 following their 22-0 win.
