Football tribunal, club bans Sebastopol teen over umpire abuse

THE football career of a 16-year-old Sebastopol player may not be over despite last night being handed a 12-match suspension by the tribunal on four counts of umpire abuse.VCFL operations manager Brett Connell said junior footballers who had a tribunal record began their senior careers with a "clean slate", with any suspensions in their junior career not counting towards the 16-game limit that spells automatic statewide deregistration. The boy's suspension tally now stands at 13.However, his playing days with Sebastopol Football Club appear to be over, with president Andrew Fleming yesterday confirming they had parted ways with the youth following the ugly under 16.5 Ballarat Football League grand final incident on Saturday.The player was ordered off the ground in the dying stages of the game after abusing an umpire three times and then charged with making contact with an umpire, after attempting to assault the man who had red-carded him and being blocked by another umpire."We have told him we will let him go. We can't tolerate undisciplined action such as that," Mr Fleming said.He said in the wake of the boy's behaviour, the club had no choice but to delist him, but continued to support him through last night's tribunal appearance.However, he said the move remained a tough one for those who had mentored the talented footballer and disappointing given the club offered him a lifeline when he was dumped by his former club after an assault-related tribunal appearance last year."One incident is going to cost him dearly. He's a good footballer and we got him to the grand final, through the whole year without any problems," he said."But we can't defend him. We took the chance and we're not happy to continue taking more chances.Because of the age of the player involved, The Courier has opted not to name him.