Former PSL referee Peter Mabuza has identified what he believes are some of the problems with match officiating in South Africa.
Match officials have been in the spotlight in recent times in both the DStv Premiership and the Motsepe Foundation Championship.
A week barely passes without coaches or club owners raising their concerns or physically confronting referees due to shocking decisions made during games.
Mabuza, who was forced to retire in 2010 after an injury, says there is a need for referees to become full-time. He also suggests that there is a need to fastback the introduction of VAR in the country.
FORMER PSL REFEREE CALLS FOR VAR TO ASSIST WITH MATCH OFFICIATING
“Yeah, there is a problem. You see, there are complaints week in and week out,” he told FARPost.
“When we were still there [officiating], there were complaints, but it was not like these days. Now, there are complaints week in and week out. Maybe our referees need assistance, like VAR or other things. Maybe if they can be full-time referees, it could make them better. But there are problems now.”
EX-REFEREE PETER MABUZA REITERATES THE CALL FOR REFEREES TO BECOME FULL-TIME
“In Germany, they are full-time. Even here, they can try their best to make them full-time,” he added.
“Every day they go to a workshop, they train. They rectify their mistakes on the field of play during the week, that can assist a lot.
“‘The other thing that will help is the VAR. It can assist a lot. You see the incident that happened during the [Mamelodi] Sundowns and [Moroka] Swallows match, sometimes you need VAR. That can also assist a lot.
He also urged match officials to always read and revise the laws of the game. “They need to focus and go back to basics.
“They must know their laws, read the laws of the game and they must be able to implement what is in the book. But if they just sit and don’t revise and all that. They will continue to make mistakes; they need to train and revise, and with that, they can improve.”
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