There is a popular picture of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy kicking the corner flag after scoring a goal. You might have seen it. It is usually used as meme material and sometimes to attack a certain group of people… but I digress. It’s very common to see football players celebrate scoring a goal by kicking the corner flag. During this process the flag can get damaged. In other times the corner flag can be broken during the course of a game when the players collide or when a foul is committed.
Pic via Ethiopian Premier League Share Company
On the 27th match day of the Ethiopian Premier League Bahir Dar Ketema player Tsegaye Abera celebrated scoring a goal by kicking the corner flag which ended up being broken. Nothing new ha? Well not according to the Ethiopian Premier League Share company. In their weekly disciplinary announcement, they have stated the player will be fined 10, 000 birr for his ‘misconduct’. Furthermore, he will pay for the repair of the corner flag.
This poses the question of why such punishment is necessary? Is the committee just handing out punishments every week? What is the purpose of a disciplinary committee in the first place? Is it not to make sure players behave well and discipline as well as professionalism is maintained? Is it only being used to collect fees? So many unanswered questions and doubts.
Our friend Dr. Firew Asrat provided an explanation to this on X:
“The Ethiopian Premier League Competition & Discipline Committee doesn’t punish teams/players for misconduct. Instead, an Ethiopian Football Federation-assigned member issues fines based on the Federation’s Discipline Regulation. The rulebook is their guide. The Ethiopian Football Federation Discipline Regulation Article 3, Section 3, Paragraph 66 (A) outlines specific fines for various misconducts including this particular incident. “
Watch the goal and celebration below
