Safa: Two-year ban for dagga

2008-07-23 19:20

Johannesburg - The Safa Disciplinary Committee appeared to have been on a high of one sort or another when they banned Platinum Stars' Daniel Tshabalala from soccer for two years for testing positive for the use of cannabis.

Although cannabis, also known as dagga or marijuana, is listed as a banned substance, it is generally used for recreational purposes and the sentence would appear grossly excessive - particularly as the substance cannot be construed as performance-enhancing.

Safa CEO Raymond Hack on Wednesday confirmed that Stars had appealed the suspension and indicated that soccer's controlling body would deal with the case sympathetically.

"In evidence, Tshabalala had not put forward the argument that he had merely made us of cannabis as a recreational drug," added Hack, "and because of this he was sentenced on the basis that the substance was performance-enhancing."

It appeared that the DC Committee under the chair of Solly Mookeletsi had placed the onus on Tshabalala to prove that the cannabis was not performance-enhancing - when it was self-evident this was the case.

First offenders for using cannabis have invariably escaped with a warning from Safa in the past - with six-month sentences the limit in exceptional cases.

And while performance-enhancing drugs in sport constitute a major problem, Stars are rightly claiming that this is a case where the element of a witch-hunt has resulted from what turned out to be excessively zealous justice.

- SAPA