PSL referees in the spotlight as ‘bootcamp’ begins

With the DStv Premiership on a brief international break, an opportunity has arisen to gather referees into a ‘mid-season’ bootcamp as they review the season to date, as well as target improvements going forward.

So far this season, there have been a series of controversial decisions as well as inconsistent officiating performances that have led to unfavourable criticism.

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It can’t be forgotten that last month SAFA confirmed that two PSL officials have been suspended after a review committee deemed their performances to be subpar.

Cledwin Baloyi is one of the PSL officials who has been “benched”. He was first assistant when he denied Swallows FC a clear goal against TS Galaxy last month, which led to a severe backlash for his incorrect offsides call.

Meanwhile, Tshidiso Maruping has also been sidelined after incorrectly awarding Golden Arrows a penalty against SuperSport United in January. The decision led to a key goal for Arrows and left SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt incensed.

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Former international match official Victor Hlungwani has now spoken to SABC Sport about the reasoning for a bootcamp of sorts that is underway.

“Every midseason there’s a workshop for referees. This year it was supposed to happen in January but remember we had the FIFA World Cup so the fixtures were congested. So, they’re only going to get a chance during the FIFA break whereby all referees come together to correct mistakes of the first half of the season,” he said.

“Jerome Damon is there, Enoch Molefe is there, Abdul (Ebrahim) is an instructor as well so they’re the ones looking at the mistakes. It needs people who have seen those mistakes, who have observed them. Who have observed us analysing them from Soccerzone to say these are the mistakes happening within the refereeing fraternity, how do we help our referees to improve for a better second round,” he added.

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Referees have been in the spotlight this season

Following complaints with regards to Baloyi and Maruping last month, SAFA’s review committee had decided to take action.

“We have found that they have made one or two errors in their matches and the review committee has made the recommendations with regards to their performances in matches. Therefore they are out for the set period,” SAFA Head of Referees, Abdul Ebrahim, told iDiski Times.

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In fact, the duo are only expected to return to top-flight action once the review committee decides that they have made necessary improvements.

“They could do Diski Challenge matches or ABC Motsepe League and that will depend on where they are appointed or if they are appointed by the appointing officer,” said Ebrahim.

“Because, for example, you can’t put a match official isolated for four weeks and expect them after four weeks they must step in into the Premier League or Motsepe Foundation Championship to officiate again.

“It is better to put them into the programme and while they are on the programme, they get to officiate in matches [not in the top flight] and they are being assessed on the regular basis.”

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