Former Orlando Pirates striker fumes at referee for ‘dubious’ penalty
James Mothibi, the former Orlando Pirates striker and current coach of D’General FC, voiced his frustrations regarding the referee during their ABC Motsepe League match on Saturday afternoon.
The SAFA Free State ABC Motsepe side, D’General, succumbed to a 2-1 defeat to Mountain Eagles. The game took place at Meqheleng Stadium in Ficksburg.
Eagles were awarded a penalty, which led to their winning goal in the dying minutes of the game, which was described as a “dubious” penalty by the visitors.
Mothibi argues that the referee ought to have officiated the game impartially and believes that the home team should not have been awarded a penalty in the first place because it was questionable.
The coach of the losing team implied that the Eagles were receiving preferential treatment from the referee, as the majority of the calls were not in their favour.
JAMES MOTHIBI’S REMARKS ON THE MATCH OFFICIAL
In a post-match outburst, Mothibi expressed embarrassment regarding the poor match officiating and its negative impact on Free State football.
Mothibi stated his disappointment, describing the poor officiating as one of the factors that hinders the Free State province from producing players for the PSL like they used to do back in the day.
“This game was unfairly handled. The game even ended very late in the evening. I don’t want to talk about the penalty that was awarded,” said Mothibi in a video posted by Abuti Lemmy on the Free State ABC Motsepe League Update Facebook page.
“The calls coming from the referee were mostly against us. SAFA Free State need to know what their referees are doing. They are bringing Free State football down by this kind of action.
“Before, how many players from Free State used to be in the PSL? We used to have about 27 players in the PSL. But why are there few players in the PSL from this province now? It’s because of corruption that is currently happening here.”
Meanwhile, the club also shared the same sentiments with their coach in a statement after the match.
“Wow! A 2-1 loss, with the Eagles getting a dubious last-minute penalty to win the game. This comes after we got denied a clear penalty in the 87th minute,” reads the club’s statement.
“We could say a lot, but that won’t help anyone…It is what it is…Some days are for you, and some days are not. Onto the next one.”
RELATED STORY: Jerry Sikhosana lambasts ‘horrible’ match officiating