You can’t play proper football if officials are poor

THE MTN8 semi-final, first leg tie between Ajax Cape Town and Wits on Saturday night contained all the ingredients for a spicy and intriguing football match – but, as has become all too familiar in the domestic game, it was the performance (or should that be non-performance) of the match officials that dominated the post-game discussion.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw at a muddy Coetzenburg Stadium in Stellenbosch, with the compact venue and soft conditions making it a rather ugly, forgettable encounter. The result, though, does hand the advantage to Wits, who, together with an away goal, also host the second leg in two weeks’ time in Joburg.

On show were two top quality sides, with contrasting styles, an eagerly-awaited clash of youth against experience, on a difficult pitch that tested the players’ technical and tactical ability - and, yet, at the close of the 90 minutes, it was Ajax head coach Roger de Sa’s confrontation with the match officials that put everything into perspective.

Both clubs had cause to complain. While both goals were controversial, Wits’ equaliser, at a crucial stage of the match – 15 minutes before full-time – had the Capetonians fuming. In addition to De Sa’s post-match haranguing of the officials, assistant-coach Ian Taylor was red-carded after Wits had scored.

Ajax took the lead in the 12th minute through the revitalised Toriq Losper, though there had been a clear foul on Wits captain Thulani Hlatshwayo in the build-up to the goal. Needless to say, the ever-volatile Mitchell’s Plain man in goal for the Students, Moeneeb Josephs, was livid, and was yellow-carded for his remonstrations with the referee.

Later, it was to be Ajax’s turn. With the ball clearly going out close to the halfway line, Wits were allowed to encroach quite a long way further up-field to take the throwin – and, from the resultant advantage, they got the equaliser through Namibian Henrico Botes.

The problem for Ajax was that, thoughout the match, the Cape side’s bench had alerted the match officials to Wits’ constant stealing of ground at throw-ins. Their warnings fell on deaf ears – and, as it turned out, that was how the Joburg side got the goal that gives them the second leg advantage.

“The ball went out on the halfway line right over the linesman and he allowed them to throw it 15 metres down the line and, obviously, we felt the ref should have stopped it,” said De Sa.

If the throw had been taken on the halfway line, then that would have had Ajax’s midfield defensive line in play. But, because Wits were allowed to take it much further down the line, it immediately put the Cape side's last defensive line under pressure… and this is the unfair advantage De Sa is referring to.

And, hence, his anger and frustration with the officials, Soccer writer RODNEY REINERS says: The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is celebrated, administratively, as the best on the continent. The organisation and its clubs are able to prise fat cheques out of corporates falling over their feet to be aligned with the sport. The game itself is improving and quite a few overseas professionals are willing to make a career in the PSL, because of the exponential increase in salaries. Even the television product is probably on par with that offered in Europe. In short, the PSL is a fully professional, well-oiled machine. And, yet, the most important component, the match officials, the men tasked with making crucial decisions that have far-reaching implications for the sport, remain semi-professional. Week after week, clubs and coaches complain of bad decisions. It’s this incongruity – a bit like the polarity experienced when viewing the dichotomy of poverty and opulence in one scenic drive from the Cape airport – that is the greatest drawback to the progress of the domestic game. These full-time coaches have to live with decisions made by parttime officials, which ultimately have an impact on whether they keep their jobs or not. Football is a cut-throat, results-driven business, yet, the professional PSL relies on semi-professional referees… They always say you get out what you put in ... If the PSL has parttime officials, it should expect part-time decisions. after he especially alerted them to what was taking place earlier in the game.

“But we had chances as well,” added De sa. “We should have maybe wrapped it up, but it was a good battle overall. I’m happy with the guys, but disappointed with the goal we conceded.”

“The football wasn’t of the best, it was pretty ugly, it was just long balls into the box because of the conditions. Wits have the physical side, but we fought well, we competed well, we hit the post… I thought we could have snuck a second goal.”

Wits coach Gavin Hunt was a bit more philosophical about the result, and the controversy around the match officials.

“”I didn’t see any problem (with Wits’ equalising goal),” said Hunt. “If you take Ajax's first goal, it was a foul as well. It was a foul on Tyson (Thulani Hlatshwayo), they pulled him right off the ball so, you know, one against one, that’s how football goes… you win some you lose some.

“But you couldn’t play on this pitch, I mean it’s impossible, so we had to play to the conditions and that’s why I left out one or two players.”

The draw means Ajax have it all to do in the second half, but De Sa was still upbeat.

“We’ve still got something to take with us in the second leg, and we’ll make a match of it,” said the Ajax co ach.

“We’ll also be able to play better football there, the pitch will be better than this one (Coetzenburg), for sure.

“Wits will play long and direct again and we’ve got to be prepared for it… The main thing is that we’ve got to get a goal there.”