Bicknell attacks KSAFA ruling
published:
Friday | February 22, 2008
Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor
Spectators scurry from the stands at the Harbour View Mini Stadium on Sunday night during the Jackie Bell KO final between Harbour View and Waterhouse. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
INCENSED AT what he termed 'biased' treatment because of a $75,000 fine levied on his team after it was found guilty of several offences contributing to the premature end of Sunday's Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Western Union Jackie Bell KO final, Waterhouse's chairman, Bruce Bicknell, launched a scathing attack against the administrative body and its head, Stewart Stephenson.
On the counter, Stephenson, an attorney-at-law by profession, put up a solid defence, saying due course was followed by the KSAFA Council which deliberated over issues arising from the aborted game between the Drewsland team and Harbour View at Harbour View Mini Stadium.
Fans behaved badly at the match, halting the contest by throwing bottles twice and eventually they were sent scampering by the sound of gunfire from the hills bordering the ground.
The first bottle-throwing incident occurred when Harbour View's midfield maestro, Jermaine Hue, was sent off in the 55th minute. It happened again when Waterhouse midfielder Damion Powell rocketed a fiercely swerving free kick into the goal with his team trailing 1-0 and 15 minutes remaining in regulation time.
It was followed by the sound of gunfire, which prompted uniformed police at the ground to brandish their firearms and had spectators scaling the perimeter fencing on to the ground.
Waterhouse were fined for the unruly behaviour of their supporters, for invading the field of play, throwing missiles on to the ground and for verbally abusing the referees.
Harbour View were not penalised and Bicknell feels that is not fair.
Unfortunate incident
"This thing has been a real wake-up call for me," he said. "The incident itself was bad enough but the biased outcome is just as bad.
"This is just another unfortunate incident for which we've to deal with the community, but don't put Harbour View on a pedestal. The fans (Waterhouse) had a right to be angry but they had no reason to behave in the way they did.
"It was such a spectacular-looking goal and even if the call was controversial, but right, in any country, any league, it's such a touch-and-go call that it would have caused anybody to get angry."
Bicknell added: "While we accept responsibility for our fans' bad behaviour, we feel that the ruling has been very biased by letting Harbour View off the hook with two incidents. I also want to commend the Waterhouse players who protected the referees from angry fans."
The Waterhouse chairman argued further: "The match commissary's report indicated that the spectators threw bottles when Jermaine Hue was sent off. But Stephenson has chosen to hide behind the referee's report, which doesn't speak of this incident."
He added: "Secondly, earlier this season when shots were fired in the Boys' Town community away from the field after the game, and it wasn't linked to the match, Boys' Town were fined $50,000 and banned for three home games, while at Harbour View shots were fired from the hills overlooking the stadium and we are of the view that it was because of the gunshots that were fired, and not the spectators throwing the bottles, why the game was called off. And again, Stewart Stephenson is hiding behind the referee's report.
"Stewart Stephenson is behaving as if he owns KSAFA and as a lawyer by profession and president of KSAFA he should know that any effort to instil justice must at least be perceived to be fair. He has undermined his leadership by promoting a biased outcome and this cannot be good for football."
Responding to the allegations,
Stephenson pointed out: "We're getting into a lot of emotions now and it's a voluntary effort.
"We called the teams together, we discussed the referee and match inspector's report. We gave them an opportunity to speak and make submissions regarding the outcome of the game and at least six members of council - with myself as chairman - participated in the deliberations regarding the matter and all decisions taken were unanimous."
Continuing, he said: "... And so we have to be very careful when we make public statements regarding servants of the sport because, given the nature of our society, they may attract unwanted responses.
"I'm merely the chairman and spokesman. You have to be careful. These comments can have a damaging effect on my professional career outside of football and we have to very careful when we make allegations of this nature. A decision is made and the match is going to be
replayed."
Contentious issue
It's not quite a replay, as the remaining 15 minutes will be finished at Edward Seaga Sports Club this evening without spectators.
In relation to the contentious issue, Stephenson said they could not establish which set of spectators were guilty when Hue was ejected, as only one bottle was thrown.
"The bottle was thrown while Jermaine Hue was coming off. We can't tell who threw the bottle ... There were two conflicting possibilities, neither of which we could have established on the basis of what we saw," he noted of the teams which sport similar colours - blue and gold. "Neither the report of the match commissioner nor the referee made any mention of it. KSAFA is the host of game. There's a distinction between a team hosting a game and KSAFA as hosts as it relates to responsibility. We have rented the facility."
Relating to the shots that sparked chaos, Stephenson said it was not factored into his council's decision because the referees did not deem it the reason why they called off the contest.
"The game was stopped because of the agreed misconduct of the Waterhouse spectators," he said. "There doesn't seem to be any disagreement that the Waterhouse spectators invaded the pitch and threw missiles on to the pitch, causing the game to be stopped. The gunshots happened some time after."
He added: "There were repeated requests for the people to stop throwing missiles and it never happened. The game had already been stopped. The damage had already been done. The gunshots only compounded the fact that there was a disruption on the property. At that time, the process had already been ruptured. We couldn't get the spectators to stop throwing bottles.
"The referees' report stated that 'There were spectators near the changing room making death threats against our lives ... it was at time that we decided our lives were in danger and decided not to go back out and restart the game'," Stephenson added.
Demands better treatment
Despite Stephenson's pronouncements, Bicknell is adamant that KSAFA erred, and demands better treatment for his club and community.
"Why were bottles allowed in the first place? Why did KSAFA allow that, and why didn't KSAFA apologise for not providing adequate security, knowing it was going to be a tightly contested game? This has hurt me so much because we've done so much in Waterhouse in recent years on sports education and other activities to uplift the community ... I take great offence to that."
Bicknell, the managing director of Tank-Weld Metals, which is also a major sponsor of Waterhouse and projects in the community, added: "We're all in this thing together and taking positive steps, such as the Premier League Clubs Association, and by hurting one club you're hurting all clubs. I'm not saying this over sour grapes.
"... But we're going to continue to pay the fines until we learn to behave in a disciplined and civilised manner at games. As a result of the incident, we are going to go on a campaign with community meetings to educate them that this behaviour can't be tolerated.
"And we also want to make a formal apology to Jackie Bell's family, the sponsors, KSAFA, Harbour View Football Club and the football fraternity in general."
