Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi has slammed the officiating in their match against Polokwane City on Sunday, with another of his players seemingly ruled out through injury, though the action went unpunished.
Chiefs lost key midfielder Edson Castillo to a broken fibula in a match against SuperSport United, though the action was ignored by the officials on the day.
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Similarly, Amakhosi left-back Bradley Cross was on the receiving end of a reckless tackle by Thabang Matuludi, which could see him sidelined for a lengthy period, though the action did not warrant a foul according to the referee, much to the frustration of Nabi, who aired his displeasure with the level of officiating against his team.
"You remember after the game where Castillo got injured for six months? I spoke about the referees and the media accused me of being aggressive towards the officials. I'm not aggressive towards referees, I respect the referees because without them you don't have football," he told journalists after the match in Polokwane.
"I stopped talking about referees, but today...if you look, we should have had a minimum of two penalties and my left back [Bradley] Cross is out, which should have been a red card. This is unacceptable. I have no problem that I lost - it's football, but I don't like to lose because of the referees.
"What do we want? Do we want more players in the hospital because of referees? Look at Cross, if you watch the action on him, he may be out for two months now.
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"It is unacceptable. I don't need them to give me gifts because I'm a sportsman who respects the opponents and the referees. But give me what the FIFA laws imply, which is to protect the health of the players. How many players are in hospital now? It's unacceptable. I'm not just talking to protect myself because we lost, no. I lost today but inside I'm fine because the solution is clear to me.
"I feel for the fans who came because we lost three points, but anyone who knows football will see that Kaizer Chiefs are heading in the right direction," he said.
