Joy for Siwela as he reaches career goal
Alex-born ref to fly flag in Russia
PSL assistant referee Zakhele Siwela was about to take a nap in between his regular daily training session last week when he was interrupted by an e-mail from Fifa.
It was a note that confirmed his berth among the 63 assistant referees at the World Cup that runs from June 14 to July 15 in Russia. He is the only South African match official on the list.
The good news has not sunk in yet for the father of two from Alexandra township.
“I am excited but, as one guy told me, I am not there until I get on that plane to my final destination in Russia.
“I still have a job to do in the domestic league and to make sure that I do the right thing and not lose focus in the coming weeks,” he said yesterday.
His team, as Fifa pairs them, comprises referee Janny Sikazwe of Zambia and Angola’s Jerson Emiliano dos Santos as another assistant.
“Officiating at the World Cup is the pinnacle of my career and it does not stop there ... I am more like players who come back and play in their domestic league and aspire to return to the World Cup,” said Siwela, who previously did duty at youth and junior Fifa tournaments.
Russia 2018 will mark his maiden senior Fifa competition since he acquired his badge from the world football governing body in 2010.
Siwela, who turns 36 in September, has officiated at two Under-17 world cups as well as last year’s U-20 global championships in New Zealand.
Like many township boys growing up, Siwela had a real passion for football, especially for someone growing up five houses from the late legendary Isaac “Shakes” Kungwane’s home in Alexandra.
But it was by default that he chose a career in refereeing when he was an aspiring striker for local amateur side Alex Blackpool in his youth.
It was compulsory for clubs to have representatives at weekly referees’ meetings prior to weekend fixtures. A club wouldn’t be fixtured if they didn’t send a representative to the meeting, Siwela recalls. He never looked back.
He was already officiating in the Safa promotional games at the age of 17 and it wouldn’t be long until he earned promotion to the PSL in 2005.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane is among his admirers for being one who understands “how Sundowns play”.
In fact, Fifa highlighted that its choice of the final list selected to officiate in Russia was based on “each referee’s skills and personality, as well as his level of understanding of football and ability to read both the game and the various tactics employed by teams”.
Siwela follows in the path laid by some well-known refs from Alex such as Silvester Ndaba, Lawrence Monnathoko, Ronny Marhule and Russel Mojapelo, but this group never officiated on the global stage.