Referees not been paid!

“We do admit that there are mistakes and we acknowledge them, but we are being owed money by SAFA. How can you expect match officials to perform at their utmost best under these circumstances?” explained a SAFA match official on condition of anonymity.

The standard of the refereeing in South Africa has come under heavy scrutiny during the past few weeks, most notably by Mamelodi Sundowns head coach, Pitso Mosimane. The Brazilians’ mentor is not the only coach to have questioned the officiating, with the likes of Benni McCarthy and Gavin Hunt amongst the coaches to have raised more than an eyebrow with decisions that have gone against their respective teams over the past months.

Mosimane has taken it upon himself to be the flag-bearer in highlighting the inconsistent decisions made by the referees and has even suggested that they could have an agenda against him.

After the recent 1-1 draw against Bidvest Wits, the coach told the media, “In Europe, when an official makes a mistake, he knocks on your door, ‘Guys, sorry I made a mistake, I cost you points, sorry.’ That won’t bring back the points, but the humility to say sorry. In South Africa, these guys are protected, they don’t say sorry. They are not accountable. We are accountable for the results. They are not accountable, they walk away, and what’s going to happen, if I have to ask? Or what has ever happened? Nothing happens. So, what do you do? It’s He The wors ng ey gang up against you. They can gang up against you. They say, ‘Oh… that one is complaining.’ They can do that. I know that mentality… they can. I’m not saying they are doing it. But they have the ability to do it. (They can say that) let’s sort that one out, he is complaining every week about us. Sometimes you have to be careful of how you say it.”

Mosimane, however, is aware of the ramifications he could face if he questions the referees.

In the same game, Mosimane highlighted the fact that he could face disciplinary action. He told SuperSport after the game.“Remember we are supposed to keep our composure. We are supposed to be gentlemen. We are supposed to talk nicely, when emotions are high, when the title is going because if you start talking then you will be called for disciplinary action and when you say it the way that it is then South Africans who don’t like Sundowns say, ‘Pitso is a cry baby’, so we should just keep quiet and these things should happen every week to us.”