Eighteen-month ban for ref abuse
The Golden Lions Rugby Union has slapped a hefty ban on a player for 'blatant disrespect' of a match official.
The GLRU, following a disciplinary hearing, confirmed that Morné Oberholzer has been found guilty of "improper and unacceptable" behaviour – displaying "blatant disrespect" towards a referee.
He was also found guilty of physical abuse of a player following an incident which took place at Roodepoort club on Saturday, August 23.
Oberholzer, has been sanctioned with an effective ban of 18 months from all aspects of game, with immediate effect.
The sanction passed by the disciplinary committee was a two-year ban of which six months was suspended.
GLRU CEO Rudolf Straeuli expressed said the decision shows that his union is willing to follow through with their "zero tolerance" stance on abuse in the game.
"We are satisfied with the decision taken by the disciplinary committee, after a lengthy hearing," Straeuli said.
"The GLRU is working to stamp out all forms of abuse in the game within our region and we will not tolerate the game being brought into disrepute."
The incident occurred in a match between the youth teams of Germiston Simmer and Roodepoort – at the Roodepoort club – which resulted in 17-year-old Matthew Germishuizen being taken to hospital.
There was fighting in the match and the referee showed a Roodepoort player a red card for foul play. Fighting broke out and he then called the match off early.
It is reported that Oberholzer ran onto the field when his son was red-carded, demanding the referee withdraw the red card and then joining his son in assaulting Matthew.
Germishuizen senior then ran onto the field to support his son and was attacked by the Roodepoort players, losing two teeth.
Germishuizen junior suffered a broken nose, a fractured eye socket and concussion. He was taken by paramedics to the intensive care unit at Union Hospital where he underwent surgery. He was in hospital for four days.
