President of Black Leopards David Thidiela has issued an apology following his outfit bizarre ten-man involvement in their league opener against Casric Stars last Saturday.
Football is usually played with 11 men on the field especially from the blast of the referee’s first whistle.
It is only when a player is sent off for a red card offence or gets injured at a time his side has exhausted their substitution that they play with less than 11 men.
At the weekend, Black Leopards locked horns with Casric Stars in their first Motsepe Foundation Championship, unfortunately, the club had to play with only ten players throughout the game due to FIFA ban.
Black Leopards had to use captain and defender of the club Tendo Mukumela as a goalkeeper after failing to register new players ahead of their season opener due to a FIFA-imposed transfer ban stemming from unresolved issues with All Stars FC.
The club suffered a 3-0 defeat to Casric Stars at the Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off for the match was subsequently delayed by an hour after deliberations between match officials and the two clubs.
“I am deeply upset by what happened. That is why I am here to sincerely apologize to everyone who came to the stadium on Saturday and to those who expected positive results.
We would like to apologize for our mistake. On Friday, we received information that the club from which we acquired our status had unresolved issues. But when we bought this status, we were not aware of this”
Meanwhile, the president has move to swiftly resolve the problem in order to get full house for their next game.
I will start working to resolve this issue on Monday so that by Sunday we are ready for the match. I also want to apologize to the players. This is not our fault, but we must acknowledge that this situation has affected us.” – said David Thidiela.
Black Leopards will take on Amatuks in their second league game of the season.
