Soccer player reprieved

Press, 24 July 1985, Page 64

Soccer player reprieved

A third Christchurch Brother United soccer player, George Caird, has avoided suspension from the club’s Le Coq Sportif Chatham Cup soccer quarterfinal against Hurricane Rangers in unusual circumstances. Three United players had reached 20 penalty points, and both Russell Cotton and Paul Hillis received twomatch suspensions at the Canterbury Football Association’s judicial com-

mittee meeting on Monday night. They will miss the Cup match on Sunday. Caird brought up his 20 points when he got a caution in United’s 0-2 defeat against Southmall Manurewa 10 days ago. However, the referee in the match, John Cameron, of Waikato, wrote to the C.F.A., effectively admitting he had made a mistake in booking Caird for a foul on the Manurewa midfielder, Ken Drakeford.

The chairman of the judicial committee, Mr Peter Donnelly, a man with long experience of disciplinary matters, said last night that the actions of Mr Cameron, one of the country’s top referees, in writing the letter were “most unusual.” He confirmed that had Mr Cameron not written his letter, Caird would definitely have received a standard suspension. Mr Donnelly said the C.F.A. had decided it would

be “very dicey” to exonerate Caird totally, so he has received a four-point caution for the incident. That leaves the Scottish midfielder on 18 points, still short of the penalty mark. Should Caird pick up another caution, he would be entitled to appeal against the four points imposed by the C.F.A., Mr Donnelly added. Mr Cameron’s letter is the first he can recall being received suggesting a referee had made a mistake;