Referee inaction irks Benni
More protection for players from crunching tackles is what the Premier Soccer League needs from its referees‚ says Cape Town City coach Benni McCarthy after a frustrating physical battle at the weekend at Maritzburg United when two players went off with serious injuries.
McCarthy had a running battle with the match officials as he protested tackles on his players after Siphelele Mthembu was stretchered off with an ankle injury after a crunching tackle from Rushine de Reuck.
He was also not pleased after skipper Thamsanqa Mkhize was involved in an unlucky clash of heads with Bokang Tlhone as City won in Sunday’s MTN8 quarterfinal.
“I had to manage myself! It was just the frustration of the referees waiting for someone to get seriously injured before they do something‚” he said.
“I think that’s the one thing our game needs to step up.
“Why do we have a fourth official who sees everything but doesn’t communicate to the referee‚” asserted McCarthy.
“There was a potential careerending tackle on Shaka Zulu [Mthembu] but then the player only gets a yellow card.
“It was a bad‚ bad tackle. “These are little things in our game that needs improving.
“When coaches want protec- tion for their players they get sent off‚ get three match suspension and you get fined. “For what?
“For trying to protect your players?
“Because the referees and the officials don’t protect the players‚ then what will we have left?” he asked.
But he still had praise for the overall performance of veteran referee Victor Hlungwani who kept a lid on a potentially combustible clash.
“But that said‚ the referee was pretty good‚” he said.
City beat Maritzburg 1-0 in their MTN8 quarterfinal tie at Harry Gwala Stadium to book a semifinal meeting with Mamelodi Sundowns. —