Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has made damning allegations about the PSL referees and club officials.
Cardoso made the allegations about the referees and club officials following Sundowns’ hard-fought 2-1 victory over Motsepe Foundation Championship side Gomora United in the Nedbank Cup Last 32 at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Brazilians opened the scoring through the Namibian talisman Peter Shalulile in the first-half before Gomora equalised on the stroke of half-time after punishing Sundowns’ defensive error from Malibongwe Khoza.
In the second-half, Masandawana restored their lead courtesy of a goal from wing-back Thapelo Morena with a header after receiving a perfect croos from Jayden Adams.
After brushing aside Gomora United, Sundowns booked a spot in the Last 16 of the Nedbank Cup alongside Stellenbosch FC, who defeated Kaizer Chiefs in another match on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese mentor has been under immense pressure in the past few weeks due to Sundowns’ inconsistent performances in domestic competitions and the CAF Champions League.
Last Friday, the Chloorkop-based side suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Al Hilal away from home in Group C of the Champions League.
Speaking after the Nedbank Cup win, the underfire Cardoso took a moment to address challenges facing South African, alleging that there are club officials who meet with referees on matchday.
CARDOSO ALLEGES THAT CLUB OFFICIALS VISIT REFEREES
“We need to create good conditions for this show that we are part of, you [media] have an important role in it, promote the important side of the game, not things that are not important,” Cardoso said.
“For example, there’s a lot of quality in the lower divisions, and that’s the work that needs to be done, support academies, support the youngsters, start developing younger players.
“I’m going to tell you one thing few years ago, there was a regulation from the government in Portugal that everyone from the first division to the third division must have a synthetic pitch, which had a huge upgrade on the football in Portugal.
“Secondly, all clubs in the first division needed to have a girls’ team so that their football can develop. Another thing is sharing the money from the sports rights from TV with teams, so that teams that are weaker can have the conditions to be better.
“There are many things that can be done. If the game becomes better, we sell more of the show, everything will go better when we start to have VAR on the matches, because here in South Africa, it becomes very interesting that the officials of some teams visit the referees in the morning of the match, do you know that? Look for that because I saw a photo today [Wednesday]. It’s the first time I’ve seen the club officials visiting the referee of their game at night. That happened very recently, maybe yesterday, and that’s what you need to worry about in terms of football.”
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