CAPE TOWN - AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has once again cast the spotlight on the standard of refereeing in South African football after his team were not awarded a penalty in the opening match of the new Dtsv Premiership season against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versveld.
The focus has been on the officials in the build-up to the start of the 2021/22 league season this past week after some dubious decisions in last week’s MTN8 quarter-finals when Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was ruled to have saved a penalty in the shootout against Sundowns, although video replays clearly showed the ball had crossed the line in full view of the linesman.
Swallows’ Keletso Makgalwa also had a goal incorrectly ruled out for off-sides in the victory over Orlando Pirates.
McCarthy’s team were now the victims on the opening day of the league when referee Victor Hlungwani failed to award the visitors a penalty after the ball hit the hand of Gaston Sirino in the Sundowns box.
To compound matters, Hlungwani had earlier pointed to the spot after Peter Shalulile was fouled by AmaZulu’s Thembelani Sikhakhane, which according to McCarthy was a “soft penalty”. Themba Zwane stepped up and converted for the only goal of the match, condemning AmaZulu to a 1-0 defeat.
“I think we should have had a penalty if the referee was as brave, like he was when he gave Sundowns their first half penalty.” McCarthy said after the game.
“The one that we didn’t get is when the ball does hit Sirino. I don’t just want to claim it, the law is the law! If your hands are not on your side, if you raise your hands or block your face, it’s a penalty. The ball hit his hand clearly.”
There have been numerous calls introduce the Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) system, which is used in all the major football leagues around the world, in South African football, but PSL chairman Irvin Khoza stated this week that its unlikely that the technology will be introduced anytime soon due to the cost factor.
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Overall, McCarthy was upbeat about his team’s chances this season despite their opening day defeat to the champions Sundowns.
"You know I couldn't have asked any more, any better performance against the champions, so we hold our heads up and now we just go back to the drawing board, we fix a little bit of things where we made small errors.
FULLTIME | #DStvPrem
— AmaZulu FC (@AmaZuluFootball) August 20, 2021
Usuthu fought to the last minute but it is the Brazilians who get the winning start.
Mamelodi Sundowns 1️⃣-0️⃣ #AmaZuluFC #HebeUsuthu#UsuthuTogether pic.twitter.com/2nKd7a9iE1
"In midfield we didn't control it that much, we panicked a little bit where usually we're so comfortable on the ball, we gave the ball away quite easily and we played in the hands of Sundowns and they kept coming at us.
"But everyone who has watched the game knows that it was two teams really going at each other but at the end of the day it shows why they won the league because they've got that little extra special more than everybody else."
@ZaahierAdams
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