Now Celtic want original ruling reinstated

The Bloemfontein Celtic soccer saga took yet another interesting turn on Thursday when the club filed for arbitration in an attempt to have a PSL disciplinary committee hearing that ruled in their favour reinstated.

This is yet another ominous sign that local football is heading for a stormy period despite a plea from Fifa urging countries that have qualified for the 2002 World Cup finals in Korea and Japan to complete their domestic programmes by the end of April.

However, South African Football Association general manager Dennis Mumble stood his ground on Thursday and said his office will not consider the Celtic case as that would be tantamount to requesting a review of an arbitrator's decision.

"In terms of our constitution, an arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding to both parties," said Mumble. "Arbitrator Dave Beasley finalised the matter and, in terms of our constitution, there is no questioning an arbitrator's ruling."

Celtic appeared before the DC facing a charge of fielding suspended Lebohang Kukame in a league game they won 1-0 against Bush Bucks. The DC found them guilty, ordered the game to be replayed and fined them R75 000.

However, the PSL Board of Governors appealed the decision. The Appeal Board upheld the PSL's objections and referred the matter back to the DC. A new DC was convened but this time Celtic were found guilty, docked three points and fined R20 000.

The initial hearing gave Celtic a lifeline as they stood a chance of winning that crucial game and remain in the PSL. However, the second decision condemned them to the lower division and now Petros Molemela's team are doing everything in their power to remain in the elite league.

"We have filed for arbitration in order to have the first ruling by the DC reinstated," said Celtic representative SC Rudolf Brits. "And we hope Safa will provide us with the names of three arbitrators from which to select one and let's speed up the process before the end of this month."

But with Mumble giving an indication that Safa was unwilling to consider their case, Celtic hinted that they could be forced to seek redress in the Bloemfontein High Court.