Experience has taught the organisers of the u.19 Bayhill Premier Cup (BPC) to run a proverbial tight ship – not for sinister reasons, or because the media is lurking and watching, but to try and ensure fair play is maintained.
Be that as it may, the bottom line is that the four-month-long qualifying campaign is now a thing of the past and the local finalists for the tournament proper at the Erica Park Sport Complex in Belhar over the Easter Weekend are now known.
Congratulations to the 17 sides (12 qualifiers and 5 automatic entries)- a mix of the academies and LFA sides all from Cape Metropole, who are now known after the final Round Robin stage was concluded at the William Herbert Sport Complex in Wynberg over the weekend. The remaining 15 teams will be invited as guests.
That aside, there are also other pressing issues in the background that the BPC’s LOC is attending to with high priority. Such is the sensitivity that it has to be put under lock and key.
Needless to say, not everyone is familiar with the drama that played out during the penultimate round at the Elsbury Park venue in Matroosfontein two weeks ago, which involved the Head of Referees in the Western Cape, Anwar Alexander (pictured), and a certain club that also lodged a complaint with the LOC.
Without going into too much detail, Alexander was involved in a verbal confrontation with some of the fans of one of the clubs and things got heated.
What made matters worse is the fact that Alexander was sporting a Bayhill Premier Cup tournament jacket which gave the public the impression that he is contracted by Bayhill – but this is not the case.
In fact, Rayaan Alie, the chief of the organising committee, distanced themselves from the unprofessional and scandalous behaviour of Alexander, who is supposed to set an example given his status as an official in Cape football.
“His conduct on the day, although clearly provoked by the ‘victim,’ is not how we deal with these kinds of situations. It has to be said that it looked set up and he fell for the bait – but that is media. I was also told “that we are going to post everything on social media” etc, as a threat or call to action …
“Anwar Alexander is not an official at the BPC Play-offs and was not appointed by us,”Alie confirmed to No Bones with Jones.”He either visits in his personal capacity or in his professional football capacity – but not under appointment from our LOC. What was an attempt to protect the actual match official on duty turned pear-shaped very quickly.
“Now the best thing about public opinion is just that, everyone has an opinion and it differs. Some agree with the coach, some agree with the official,” Alie stated. “Then there is also the other issue with individuals that sits with an identity crisis as they want to be a jack of all trades, wanting to use their influence in other areas to prove a point,” said Alie.
Alas! Don’t be fooled in thinking that this will be swept under the carpet by the relevant authorities. Alie further divulged: “We are also investigating a verbal complaint we received about the situation from the coach involved – and remarks made to our committee insinuated that ‘our’ officials were rude and disorderly.
“As with anything, there is always more than one side to a story. Unfortunately, in football, everyone has a turn to be aggrieved about something. The coach mentioned that his club was being targeted by referees throughout the play-offs. Now this type of mindset leads us to believe that there was already a negative demeanour prior to the commencement of the match.
“It goes without saying that we disagree strongly with remarks hinting at prejudice by our officials towards any club, this has never been how we operate. And yes, those are internal matters.” Alie further explained: We won’t comment on that at this stage…it’s an ongoing inquiry with multiple allegations of which ‘The Anwar’ issue is one. The club will receive a response in due course. As you may well imagine, it can’t take a day to investigate weeks of allegations.
“I also have to make it clear that for matters related to the matches and playing affairs – participants can lay formal complaints which we look into. We do not allow protests at BPC. Additionally – some matters of concern are outside the ambit of playing affairs and deal more with misled perceptions of association and behavioural issues. So, we will continue our inquiry and respond to the club that made the complaint – before making public statements. (It’s a closed internal investigation),” Alie concluded.
The launch and draw of the tournament will take place at the Mayoral Banquet Hall in the Civic Centre on the 7th of March.
