CAPE TOWN – Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane wasn’t aware that Tebogo Langerman was suspended for Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final against Bloemfontein Celtic.
Langerman spent the entire game on the bench as Sundowns beat Celtic 1-0 to win the Nedbank Cup and complete a historic treble.
But their status as Nedbank Cup winners is in doubt after it was revealed that Langerman was suspended for Saturday’s game. The defender picked up a fourth yellow card in their last league game against Black Leopards, ensuring that he was ineligible for Saturday’s final.
“I’m not aware of that,” Mosimane was quoted by KickOff after Saturday’s final.
“I’m not aware of that. How come you are asking me, as the coach? I’ll ask the club,” Mosimane said when quizzed about Langerman’s suspension.
Congratulations to @Masandawana #NedbankCup2020final Champions
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) September 12, 2020
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾pic.twitter.com/GR4GnCUiOa
It was confirmed that Bloemfontein Celtic lodged a complaint with the PSL after the game, and the outcome of that is yet to be determined.
Even though Langerman did not play in Saturday’s final, his appearance on the bench contravenes the rules in the NFL handbook, which stipulate that suspended players may not “be dressed in their game uniform, and they may not take part in any warm-up activities”.
The rules further state: “If a player’s name appears on the team sheet, he will be deemed, for the purpose of these rules, to have participated in the match except if a member club removes a player’s name from the team sheet before the match.”
However, according to former PSL general manager Ace Ncobo, Sundowns’ status as Nedbank Cup winners was not in jeopardy.
“As per requests, let me give clarity on the Tebogo Langerman issue. Please note that it's not a refereeing matter, it's a Rules & Regulations issue so I'll be wearing the "former PSL GM" cap on this one,” Ncobo wrote on Twitter.
“Let's start with participation. He was on the bench. Did he participate? In terms of Rule 16.5, a player who is named in the Team Sheet is deemed to have participated in the match. So indeed Langerman participated,” he continued.
Despite there being no protest but a complaint, what is the status of the action by Sundowns to have an ineligible player participating in the match? Even if there was no submission from Celtic, Sundowns is guilty of misconduct. https://t.co/fhO0wnoERJ
— Ace Ncobo - Spot On (@AceNcobo) September 13, 2020
“Did Celtic lodge a valid protest? From what I'm able to gather, Celtic made a submission AFTER the match, which would then categorise their submission as a complaint rather than a protest.
“A protest regarding the ineligibility of a player can only be valid when submitted to the referee,in the presence of the opposing captain and an assistant referee no less than 30min prior to kick-off (Rule 51.3).
“It therefore follows that, Celtic did not lodge a protest with the League and therefore there is no disciplinary protest that places the match and its outcomes under review.”
IOL Sport