The Premier Soccer League season is only four days old but several contentious calls have already been made by referees — blunders which have increased calls for video assistant referee (VAR) technology to be introduced in the country.
The latest incident on Wednesday night saw Moroka Swallows “steal” three points with a stoppage time 2-1 victory over Sekhukhune United when referee Siyabonga Nkomo disregarded a flagrant foul and gave the Birds a goal.
Swallows striker Gabadinho Mhango bundled United goalminder Badra Ali Sangare, who had the ball in his hands after gathering a cross, into the net.
Nkomo and his assistant Thamaga Sebati have since been put on ice by the South African Football Association referees review committee, red carded for their booboo.
We look forward to the implementation of VAR in SA sooner rather than later. It will alleviate a lot of the controversy that happens in football
— Abdul Ebrahim, said Safa head of referees
But the suspension of errant referees for poor officiating is cold comfort for aggrieved clubs as it does not change the result.
VAR will come in handy to curb continuous controversial officiating by the men in the middle. Allowing it to continue unabated undermines the credibility of the game.
“We look forward to the implementation of VAR in South Africa sooner rather than later. It will alleviate a lot of the controversy that happens in football,” said Safa head of referees Abdul Ebrahim.
“Had it been available to us now, the decision may have been different. It will enhance the performance of match officials.”
This early in the season, inconsistency in applying the laws of the game has been seen in an assortment of dubious incidents of officiating, ranging from disallowed goals, wrongly awarded penalties, and offsides incorrectly flagged.
Some incidents may be deemed minor but they eat away at the integrity of the game. “We have done all the groundwork for VAR. A letter of intent was sent to Fifa two months ago. A project leader must be appointed by Safa and that person will handle the project,” said Ebrahim.
“Unfortunately I can’t give a timeline. It is now up to management to decide. We are in discussions with our CEO [Lydia Monyepao] to meet with the PSL to discuss the way forward as far as VAR is concerned.
“No one wants mistakes but when a mistake happens there are consequences. We must also remember the psychological component so that when the official returns from rehab it is not just the technical but also the psychological that has been worked on.”
Ebrahim said referees are sent to rehabilitation to the lower leagues. “It depends on the severity of the incident. A recommendation from the review committee goes to the technical committee which puts together a rehabilitation programme and finds an instructor who is assigned to deal with the misconduct.”
Last month Safa held two five-day pre-season workshops attended by over 80 match officials and 36 assessors “who were selected based on their potential and consistently good performances from across nine provinces”.
A Safa statement said the referees were “exposed to various topics such as the identification of challenges, tactical fouls, offside, positioning and reading of the game, game management, teamwork, fitness tests, nutrition and, importantly, VAR basics,concepts in law interpretation and implementation”.
In March, Safa suspended Luxolo Badi, Cledwin Baloyi, Tshidiso Maruping and Simkele Jali for inept performance when AmaZulu’s Hendrik Ekstein saw his goal disallowed against Royal AM in February.
There was a post-match scrimmage between officials of the two KwaZulu-Natal clubs. AmaZulu president Sandile Zungu had choice words for what he deemed as unjust, and the club protested the decision.
In January, Swallows were at the receiving end of foul play by repeat offenders Baloyi and Maruping when what would have been a winning goal by Keegan Allan against Golden Arrows was ruled offside when Baloyi raised his flag ruling that Waseem Isaacs was offside before the goal was scored.
United coach Brandon Truter was left seething by the Wednesday incident. “Here in South Africa, they get away with these things. It was very blatant for everybody to see a push on the goalkeeper. I’m disappointed by that decision but we move on,” he said.
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