Orlando Pirates were surprisingly knocked out of the Carling Knockout tournament by Magesi FC 3-2 on the weekend, and now, talking to a former referee, the Siya crew discusses the two notable refereeing decisions that occurred in the cup game.
In the dying minutes of the last 16 round fixture, there was a penalty appeal against Patrick Maswanganyi, and also earlier, an offside call against Mohau Nkota, which could have been an equalizing goal. In the match, assistant referee Zakhele Siwela flagged for offside.
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Talking to Soccer Laduma, former referee Victor Hlungwani stated that both decisions were the right calls from the official and his assistant. Hlungwani stated that there is no need to even quote the rules of the game as those were clear-cut decisions and the officials were spot on.
"You know in that game of Orlando Pirates and Magesi FC, there were two decisions which either players or supporters of Pirates were not happy with. The first one was the offside against Mohau (Nkota). With that one there is nothing to discuss. Nkota scored from an offside position. He was almost a metre ahead of the last Magesi defender. That was an offside. No question about that," Hlungwani told the Siya crew.
"As for the penalty appeal against Patrick Maswanganyi, if you look at the ball, it changed direction which means the goalkeeper (Elvis) Chipezeze touched the ball first. That's the only reason the ball would change direction if the goalkeeper had touched the ball first. So, again, there was no penalty there. Both decisions were the right calls from the match officials. In such cases there is no need to quote the rules from FIFA because they were clear decisions," Hlungwani added.
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The former referee, however, added that it's also important to look at the incidents from different angles to eventually make the right call based on these perspectives.
"You see, if you are watching on TV you may think it's a foul from a different angle and think it's not a foul from another angle. Remember the match officials are there on the field of play and they see first hand. It was the same in the Kaizer Chiefs match against Mamelodi Sundowns when Inacio Miguel pushed Mosa Lebusa. People from different angles saw the action differently but it was actually a foul. So, the same happened with Maswanganyi and Chipezeze. From other angles you could think it was a penalty but actually it was not," Hlungwani concluded.
As Pirates reflected on their Carling Knockout exit, the decisions made by match officials had sparked debate among fans and players alike. However, expert analysis from former referee Hlungwani supports the calls made on the field, emphasizing the importance of perspective and having a look at various camera angles.
