Johannesburg – The South African Football Association (SAFA) has laid down a harsh punishment to both referees Jelly Chavani and the fourth match official, Moeketsi Molelekoa.
SAFA pinned down six weeks suspensions to both officials for their reckless decision to award Kaizer Chiefs a ‘penalty blunder’ in their 1-1 draw against AmaZulu.
In the dying minutes of the game on Saturday, Chavani called for a penalty, after he alleged that Usuthu defender Tapelo Xoki handled the ball inside of the area.
However, in a visible outlook, this wasn’t true as Xoki’s both hands were placed behind his back during the incident.
Amakhosi skipper Keagan Dolly converted the penalty to make it equal with Benni McCarthy’s team, which resulted in Amazulu losing out on the 3 points.
With a rising concern, Usuthu laid their complaint to SAFA, and on Monday, SAFA’s Referees Review Committee then set to overlook the situation.
Chavani sanctioned for Amazulu/Chiefs error https://t.co/Q56EVQ7aId
— SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) October 6, 2021
Following the outcome of Referees Review Committee, SAFA then issued a statement late on Wednesday.
“The SAFA Referees Review Committee met on Monday, 4 October 2021 to analyse and discuss refereeing performance over the last round of National Soccer League (NSL) matches,” statement read.
The statement further read:
“Therefore, the SAFA Review Committee found that:
The match Referee, Mr Jelly Chavani and the 4th Official, Mr Moeketsi Molelekoa by erring, have been found guilty of executing their duties in an unacceptable manner and have duly been suspended from officiating in matches in the Glad Africa 1st Division and DSTV Premiership for a period of six (6) weeks.
During this time, the SAFA Referees Technical Sub-Committee will oversee the rehabilitation of these match officials, to ensure that they are fully debriefed and better equipped in the future.
SAFA will continue to require high standards from its match officials and while acknowledging this was refereeing error, match officials must accept that if they err to this extent, there must be consequences,” the statement concluded.
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