Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
WHEN a coach gets fined for misconduct and responds with mockery instead of reflection, it stops being about football, it becomes about ego.
Highlanders coach Pieter de Jongh wasn’t hauled before a disciplinary committee. He was fined US$1 250 under the PSL Standing Order Fines Schedule for implying bias and questioning the integrity of the league and its partners after Bosso’s Chibuku Super Cup semi-final defeat to Dynamos.
A matter the league could have quietly closed has now turned into another sideshow, because De Jongh can’t help himself.
In the early hours on Friday, he posted a photo on his X (Twitter) account wearing a mask and gesturing for silence, captioned,
“They can fine me, but they can’t silence The Champ.”
Then came the hashtags, #TheChamp #Fearless #Unstoppable #TruthHurts, a self-styled anthem that says everything wrong about his attitude.
Who in his right mind thinks that’s leadership?
A coach fined for misconduct, publicly taunting the same league he represents, and calling it “fearless”? That’s not courage. That’s contempt.
This isn’t passion for the badge. It’s pure self promotion. De Jongh is treating the fine like free publicity, the rebuke like a badge of honour. Football doesn’t need that kind of energy. It needs humility, accountability, and focus, qualities Highlanders once embodied.
The PSL Standing Order Fines Schedule exists to preserve order, not to provide props for attention seekers. When a coach mocks that process with hashtags about being “unstoppable,” it insults the league, the referees, and every professional who plays by the rules.
De Jongh has turned the touchline into a theatre and the club into his stage. The longer it goes on, the more Highlanders’ reputation suffers. True champions don’t shout “#TruthHurts” from behind a mask, they prove their point on the field.
Highlanders deserve a coach who leads, not performs.
The league deserves respect, not ridicule.
And if De Jongh believes he can’t be silenced, the game itself might remind him, football has never needed hashtags to humble anyone.
