By
Former Premier Soccer League and FIFA accredited referee Victor Hlungwani has confirmed there will be a refresher course for match officials next month following growing criticism that the standard is at its lowest.
A number of topflight coaches have been left feeling aggrieved by recent decisions and press conferences are now dominated by the poor officiating.
The latest to add their voices to the topic are AmaZulu’s Romain Folz, Jose Riveiro of Orlando Pirates as well as SuperSport United’s Gavin Hunt.
Hlungwani acknowledges that his colleague are dropping the ball.
“We never had our usual mid-season workshop to correct these [mistakes] because after the World Cup there was a congestion of fixtures,” the former top ref explained to host Andile Ncube on Metro FM’s of Sports Night Amplified.
“That resulted in referees not getting time to go back to the drawing board, but the course will now happen in March.”
Usually one to jump to the defense of his fellow referees, Hlungwani, a resident referee on Monday night review show SoccerZone, said it was no surprise to see several match officials being yanked off the roster recently.
“Yes, there are serious challenges that need to be resolved as a matter of urgency – the standard, as expected in the Premier Soccer League, is not what people want to see. Hence you see referees being suspended. I believe that [to be the case with] Masixole Bambiso, Tshidiso Maruping and I heard about Cledwin as well,” said Hlungwani.
SAFA is still yet to appoint the National Referees Committee since last year’s elections, leaving the match officials wing vulnerable and with little accountability.
