Johannesburg- Victor Gomes was such a crappy soccer player that he decided to officially call it quits at the age of 14. He then grabbed the whistle and became a referee – that was easier than juggling the ball, and the best way to remain in the game that he has always loved with all his heart.
When he started blowing and officiating in the Portuguese leagues in southern Johannesburg, around Rosettenville and Turffontein, little did he know that he would one day officiate in the biggest soccer match on the continent – running the rule over superstars such as Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.
Gomes’ story is what dreams are made of.
A skinny 14-year-old running around the field with a whistle and giving cautions and red cards to grown-up men, and also getting smacked around by the older, sour losers, and then going all the levels up and officiating in the finals of CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournament, is surely one of the sweetest stories to come out of Mzansi football.
“I was a terrible player. I was a defender playing right back,” Gomes opened up to Sunday World.
“But I loved the game. I just could not play. I tried. And at 14, I was already begging my coach to let me referee the matches. I decided that I am calling it quits and I was discovering this new passion in being a referee. I pursued it and the rest is history.
“It has been an amazing journey. I could not have done it without my family, Safa, without my local football association and my fellow assistant referees Zakhele Siwela and Souru Phatsoane, whom I refer to as brothers,” he said.
His path has not been a walk in the park. In the early stages of his career, he was a little rough around the edges. And as a result, he was one of the most loathed and disliked referees in the PSL.
The coaches took him on and the media called him names such as “Penaldinho”.
After a red card, then Platinum Stars coach Roger de Sa wanted to merge his fist with Gomes’ jaw. De Sa was fuming and said that “we can’t have a Gomes Show every week”.
Pitso Mosimane too was taken to an early shower and he responded by saying Gomes always wants to be man of the match. Eric Tinkler also had a few run-ins with Gomes.
“Football has lots of emotions, there’s a lot of backlash and you cannot take it personal. Most of it people cannot see on TV.”
“People do not understand the application of the laws of the game. It’s about your personality. I was stubborn when I started as a kid and no player pushed me around. It is also about game management, coming up with ways where people will say the referee handled the match professionally.
“Players come up with new tricks everyday to outmaneuver us, and if you do not prepare or keep up, you will be caught out. Coaches are more difficult because they always ask who is the referee for today’s match? They do this because they want to intimidate us. Referees are like DJs, we play the tune.”
He said the first person he called after being told that he was going to referee the final was his wife.
“The minute I got the news, I phoned my wife. She was ecstatic and said that’s a reward for being away from home. I then spoke to my parents and friends. I got many messages of congratulations from the other referees.”
Gomes said referees needed to have a professional set-up to function at their maximum.
Safa’s chair of the referee’s committee Natasha Tsichlas agreed and said she would organise talks with the hierarchy of Safa and the president Danny Jordaan.
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