Highly rated South African referee Victor Gomes has made up with top coaches Pitso Mosimane and Roger de Sa after a string of altercations in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Both Mosimane and De Sa are carving a niche in the land of the Pharaohs. Mosimane is now coaching Al Ahly and De Sa is the assistant coach of the Egyptian national team.
Gomes was a little rough on the edges when he started out refereeing, but he has since risen through the structures to become one of the best whistlemen on the continent.
After some impressive officiating in the early stages of the recently completed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), the Confederation of African Football bestowed upon him the privilege of handling the final between Senegal and Egypt, which the Lions of Teranga won.
But back in the PSL days, it was like cat and mouse. In 2019 after a red card, De Sa, who was coaching Platinum Stars, had a verbal fight with Gomes. De Sa was fuming and said “we can’t have a Gomes Show every week”.
Pitso Mosimane too was taken for an early shower and he responded by saying Gomes always wanted to be man of the match. Eric Tinkler, the current coach of Cape Town City, has also had a few run-ins with Gomes.
Said De Sa after the Afcon final in Cameroon: “We got a chance to meet up and exchange pleasantries. We were with a lot of other South Africans, journalists and officials. Gomes has come a long way and has matured. He is the best referee on the continent.
“There’s a lot of emotions involved in the game, and those little spats on the touchline are a thing of the past now. He has learnt how to apply himself and how to handle big matches. To be honest, now I would rather have Gomes as a referee.”
Mosimane added: “If Gomes and Zakhele Siwela [another PSL referee] are not officiating at the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar in November, I would be very surprised. We come far with Victor [Gomes], he’s done very well representing the country with Zakhele.
“I talk to Zakhele all the time and we argue, we are professionals. I think that Victor is number one and I hope he gets the chance for the World Cup.”
He continued: “Safa created this platform for them and Safa must boast about their achievements on the international level. We have gone through different stages, especially when I would lose a match. I hate losing games and now he understands.
“I always hear people saying Pitso is a bad loser – I mean who is a good loser. I love to win and Gomes now understands that.”
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