It didn’t take long to reignite the contempt for local football rules officials in the new season of the Betway Premiership, and former PSL and Fifa referee Victor Hlungwani has called for calm among SA fans.
It’s been five days since Kaizer Chiefs conceded a contentious winner to Mamelodi Sundowns in their league clash, but Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and the competency of local referees is still being publicly debated.
With the scores locked at 1-1 just after the half-hour mark, Sundowns’ Lucas Ribeiro crossed for Iqraam Rayners who scored the goal. However, replays suggested that Ribeiro may have been offside.
The decision though, was marginal and condemning the referees for a split second call without the use of the VAR is not really justified.
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‘Play better next time’
Hlungwani said if there was an incorrect decision, he was confident that the SA Football Association (Safa) would handle it.
''Remember there are processes at SAFA where they review all the games, when they review all these games they make recommendations with the technical committee, if the technical committee agrees with the recommendations that maybe the referee at, there are consequences, at times the technical committee agrees with the decision of the referee, so there's no crisis.
“So people might say crisis crisis because they have lost. Fifa fair play says accept defeat with dignity and try to play better next time. “
Earlier this week, Safa head of referees Abdul Ebrahim weighed in on the use of VAR in local football.
“Of course, there will always be one or two incidents that will need to be reviewed, and the review will have a look at it, and they will get the footage and make their decisions based on the footage received,” Ebrahim.