POLL | Do SA referees deserve recent criticism from football coaches?

Referees in South Africa have been in the spotlight recently, lambasted for some decisions in DStv Premiership and Nedbank Cup football games.

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena this week criticised the quality of officiating in his team's 2-2 draw against Moroka Swallows at Dobsonville Stadium on Monday. The match result was overshadowed by confusion about Swallows’ 85th-minute equaliser by centre-forward Gabadinho Mhango. Mhango's goal was initially overruled as offside but then allowed.

There was some debate about the legitimacy of the goal, with many pundits arguing referee Jelly Chavani and his team got the decision right. They argued Mhango was not involved in play when he was metres behind Sundowns' last man to a long ball and then played onside by a misplaced header by Brazilians centreback Divine Lunga.

Mokwena appealed to the South African Football Association (Safa) to look into improving the quality of the profession.

His complaints came after Cape Town Spurs coach Ernst Middendorp made comments about referees last week after his last-placed team's 1-0 defeat against Sundowns. Spurs were the victims of a dubious penalty awarded to Downs when the foul appeared to have taken place outside the penalty box. 

Middendorp said there is much talk from Safa about improving qualifications for coaches in the Premier Soccer League but not as much about raising the standard of refereeing, which the association oversees.

AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin was incensed at an apparently soft penalty awarded against his team in their 4-2 Nedbank Cup defeat against Orlando Pirates on Saturday.

While complaints mount, TimesLIVE reported Safa head of referees Abdul Ebrahim defended recent much-criticised performances by match officials but admitted there was room for improvement.

“I am happy with the performances of all match officials; they make mistakes but we deal with those mistakes,” Ebrahim said.

“It doesn’t mean if someone makes a mistake, all of a sudden they are a poor person. It doesn’t mean if two referees make a mistake, refereeing is all of a sudden poor.

“Errors have been happening and our review committee deals with them. This is the norm every season — when something is wrong we try our best to fix it.”