Highlanders Executive Chairman Kenneth Mhlophe has acknowledged that the club is currently facing challenging times and has urged supporters to remain calm and refrain from acts of violence.
The team was fined US$6,000 following crowd disturbances during their Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final clash against Simba Bhora last weekend, which also resulted in a similar fine for Simba.
Highlanders have also been summoned by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) to appear before its Ad Hoc Committee to answer to allegations of breaching the Chibuku Super Cup Rules and Regulations.
The situation escalated when Highlanders players and technical staff walked off the pitch in protest after the referee awarded a penalty to Simba Bhora in the second half, leading to the abandonment of the match.
In a statement issued on Saturday, September 28, Mhlophe criticised football authorities for “reinventing” the laws of the game to influence match outcomes. Said Mhlophe:
We are going through a challenging time as a club at the moment. The situation is untenable. Laws of the game are being reinvented to decide the outcomes of professional matches.
In the face of all this, let us choose higher ground. Highlanders FC asks you to remain calm as we wade through all this.
We call upon all our supporters and football-loving members to maintain peace and to refrain from violence, verbally or physically. Let us stand together.
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