SAFA must deal with referees consistently
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane raised a very important point about the way Daniel Bennet and his assistants handled their game against AmaZulu this past weekend.
Mamelodi Sundowns were beaten 2-1 by AmaZulu and the officials in charge made some huge game-changing decisions, which must be scrutinised if SAFA is to be considered consistent.
Had the football body not banned inexperienced referee Cedrick Muvhali and assistant referee Patrick Jafta for their poor handling of a PSL match between Cape Town City and Polokwane City last month, we wouldn’t be talking about this.
In the Sundowns match, the experienced Daniel Bennet allowed an offside AmaZulu goal by Siyabonga Nomvete to stand and denied them a penalty when Leonardo Castro was fouled by the goalkeeper.
Speaking of Bennet, he has been suspended by CAF from officiating continental matches due to poor showings, but we still keep him in the domestic league. Why?
I’m not saying he must be sacked, but we need to scrutinise the fact that his mistakes put coaches under pressure and other referees have been punished for such errors. What happened to balancing the equation?