ISSA sets disciplinary meeting with JC
Published:Monday | November 27, 2017 | 12:00 AMRobert Bailey
The Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) will tomorrow meet with the management of the Jamaica College (JC) Manning Cup team, where they will be asked to respond to a referee's report, which highlighted several issues after a controversial November 18 ISSA/FLOW Super Cup semi-final.
At least two JC officials were accused of verbally abusing members of the officiating team after a last-minute direct free-kick, shot by JC's Tyreke Magee against rivals Kingston College (KC), flew untouched into KC's net, which meant that it was a direct free kick when referee Leon Brown had indicated that he should have taken one indirectly, meaning that it had to touch another player before crossing the goal line.
The decision led to an angry reaction from fans, who were said to have thrown bottles at the officials, while Magee, who took his shirt off, was seen being held back as he rushed at the referee after the incident.
VERBAL ABUSE
According to the referee's report, several members of JC's bench, including players and coaching personnel, also verbally abused the officiating team after the game.
Former FIFA referee Peter Prendergast, in an interview with The Gleaner last week, defended referee Brown, saying that he made the right call. Since then, he commented in a radio interview that enough was not being done to ensure officials' protection at local football matches.
ISSA Competitions Director George Forbes confirmed to The Gleaner yesterday that the official referee's report after the game stated that the match officials were verbally abused by two members of JC's management after the match in question.
Prendergast also questioned why no meeting had been arranged between ISSA and the two persons named in the match report.
"It's a disciplinary meeting for JC to explain what transpired and their response to the referee's report," said Forbes.
"The referee said he was verbally abused by some members of the JC team, and that is what they are going to answer to," he said.
It is also understood that match officials held a meeting before the Super Cup final between KC and St Elizabeth Technical High School at the same venue last Saturday night. The meeting reportedly concerned how the officials should approach a similar incident if one occur. This resulted in the match, which KC went on to win 3-0, being delayed for almost 40 minutes.