It is a movie that plays out every season in the second round. Teams fighting it out to gain promotion, and at the very least, a spot in the play-offs. Despite their efforts, at most times these clubs' fate lies in the hands of dodgy officials, who, for years, have had a direct impact on who gets to see the Promised Land that is the topflight and who doesn't. SAFA claim to have the situation under control and state that they are committed to the promotion of Fair Play, integrity and the eradication of maladministration, match-fixing and corruption in football. As a result, the country's football mother body has urged clubs, officials and the concerned public to make use of their integrity framework. While SAFA have increased their efforts to curb corruption within referees, the continued ill of corrupt referees threatens to cripple the local game as we know it. With the Motsepe Foundation Championship nearing its business end, Soccer Laduma shines a spotlight on its officiating and the dire effects thereof.
What The Siya Crew Has Been Told…
As things stand, four out of the 16 Motsepe Foundation teams remain in the race for promotion to the DStv Premiership. This is barring All Stars and JDR Stars, who mathematically are still in with a shout, although results elsewhere would need to go in their favour. This leaves the likes of Cape Town Spurs, Casric Stars, Polokwane City and Hungry Lions as the four main contenders for automatic promotion, while a spot in the relegation/promotion play-offs is still attainable for a number of clubs. At the bottom half of the table, teams like Black Leopards and Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila run the risk of dropping down to the ABC Motsepe League. The Siya crew reached out to a club owner, who, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the standard of officiating in the second round has deteriorated significantly in the Motsepe Foundation. This is due to games allegedly being 'bought' by corrupt club owners, who pay match officials to influence the results of these matches. Usually a penalty, disallowed goal and a sending off would be part of the conditions for such a transaction. The 'buying' begins with high-ranking officials who appoint referees, where certain match officials are 'chosen' for games. "Obviously there is someone inside that is paid to make sure that certain referees come to the games, where they can ensure control and influence the outcome of the match. They are paid a certain amount of money, which will guarantee them wins," alleged the club boss. Soccer Laduma spoke to another club owner, who, out of fear of being victimized, will remain anonymous. The club boss revealed that word on the street is that games could be bought for amounts ranging from R40 000 to R100 000 depending on the category of the match. "I've never been in that situation, but whatever it is, whether it's R10 or R10 000, the ultimate damage is on the multimillion value of the PSL, you see? The multimillion damage to the football club far exceeds any of those amounts." The targeted matches, according to the second owner, would be those played at the paying team's home venue and usually these are not televised. Certain teams in the league are said to have gone as far as denying opposition clubs the opportunity to record games for analysis purposes and have made a ruling that only accredited personnel may do so. However, this practice is only being used by an unnamed club. The club owners say channels have been made available for clubs to launch complaints regarding this matter. However, SAFA require proof of these claims, which proves to be a challenge considering phones and recording devices are prohibited at the said team's home venue. "You can lodge a complaint. You can supply footage if you're allowed to film the game, because obviously you know the incident where one of the teams didn't allow the opposition to record games. It doesn't make sense that suddenly, they pulled up a rule that doesn't exist where it says you have to apply for accreditation from the PSL to have someone to record the games. To be frank, I don't think there's one team in both leagues that actually has the accreditation (for that). There's never been an issue and suddenly it is one, and one needs to be suspicious when that happens."
What SAFA Are Saying
SAFA Head of Referees, Mr Abdul Ebrahim, has denied any knowledge of the claims by the owners and has directed all queries to the organisation's Ethics Committee. "This would be a matter for integrity to handle. If the club owners are saying that there are match officials and high-ranking people involved, then I would rather suggest they have this conversation with integrity so that it can be properly invested. I unfortunately cannot speak about these allegations. If they are making the allegations, then surely they must have informed additional information with regards to this and now I'm talking about match officials being bought, match officials being paid (for) matches, being paid, etcetera, etcetera. I bear no knowledge of that, and if they have information like that, then they have a responsibility to come forward. It's not a matter of… surely we don't want the negative talk to be around that, no. If they have evidence of what it is that they are saying, then it is their responsibility to bring it forward. I cannot deny it, I cannot say it's not true. I bear absolutely no knowledge of it. So, the onus is now on them to come forward. If they have any knowledge, then it is their responsibility to come forward and bring forward the evidence that they have."
What Are The Facts?
In October last year, Pretoria Callies coach Kwanele Kopo opened a can of worms when he openly criticised the standard of refereeing in the second tier, referring to it as "a disgrace to South African football". "It's a waste of time. I don't know what the solution is because we have interviews, you talk, you can write a complaint, you are wasting time! It's almost like it's stamped somewhere that the log is done, we are just playing to confirm what is already there. I'm sorry to say that. Referees are arrogant. It's a joke. People can say Kopo is complaining, it is a disgrace what is happening to football in South Africa," he said in a media interview. Similarly, his opponent on the day, Polokwane City co-coach Papi Zothwane, echoed the same sentiments. "People are investing a lot in football and with the investments that people are making, we always complain about the officiating. Every team complains about officiating. I don't think there is one person who will be happy with some of the decisions that are being taken not only in this division… even in the PSL, there are decisions that are very questionable, but we are human beings, we make mistakes, but sometimes the decisions are very questionable," he said. Meanwhile, Ebrahim confirmed to this publication that the association is taking steps to improve the level of officiating within the PSL. "We have a Review Committee that looks at the matches and yes, they do pick up errors and with those errors are consequences. This is where we send match officials for, for want of a better word, rehabilitation. So, we just assign a mentor or someone from our technical committee to sit with them, and those programmes have helped. I mean, all the times that I've been in office, we've had our Technical Committee sit with some of the match officials who have been put through rehabilitation. So, we have people who work with them all the time, right? But like I said, we have technical people who look at some of these errors and yes, it's unfortunate when some of these errors do happen and they do affect the outcome of the game. Right now, yes, the law does say that the referee's decision is final, but like I said, yes, there are consequences if you pick up errors and it has altered the result of the match. Then the match official is dealt with in a specific way. If the same error is made and it doesn't affect the outcome of a match, then yes, there are still consequences because there's consequences for both. The one will obviously be a little bit of a lesser consequence, but there's still some action that needs to be taken there. So they still need to go through a rehabilitation programme," he told the Siya crew.
What Are The Possible Solutions?
Calls have been made for the implementation of VAR (Video Assistant Referee). However, there are a number of challenges that South Africa is faced with in terms of the implementation of the technology. "Well, I think the VAR thing is a problem because firstly, I don't think any of our teams own any stadiums. The way I understand it is, those cameras are set up in the stadiums, so unless they come with a mobile system that's practical and can work, I can't see that working. But if you remember a couple of years ago when UEFA had two extra officials on each side the goalposts, that's doable for us, but now if there is corruption involved, it will just become a little bit more expensive. I don't think suspending the referee for a week or two weeks or three weeks or months helps. Maybe it helps SAFA. It doesn't necessarily help the team that just either lost the three points or lost two points or whatever, because those points are gone forever," the club owner said. Another solution proposed has been the professionalization of refereeing in the country, where referees would be employed full-time to decrease the likelihood of being bought. "The only other way is to professionalize it and the guy stands to lose his salary and pension and whatever else may go with it (if found guilty). But that also is costly. But maybe they can also approach the Minister of Sport and see how he can assist them financially to be able to achieve this because at the end of the day, if the sport is destroyed, football is a big part of South African people's lives and that's not going to be a good thing," he said.
The Story Behind The Scenes
The best ways to solve this scourge…
After some digging by Soccer Laduma, particularly with regards to the new integrity framework set up by SAFA to eradicate maladministration, match-fixing and corruption in football, it has been established that the association outsourced this function to a company called Whistleblower SA, an organisation that has grown into the largest independent ethics hotline provider in sub-Saharan Africa since its inception in 2000. Whistleblowers SA act on behalf of SAFA and receive information from people with information about corruption. They then compile a report for SAFA, who investigate and act upon the complaints received.
Talks of VAR are escalating
As reported by this publication earlier this month, the arrival of VAR on our shores is imminent, but the lack of training of officials has delayed things, according to SAFA CEO Tebogo Motlanthe. "We have spoken to CAF. There was a delegation of CAF which was here to inspect stadiums. But our discussions with both CAF and FIFA… first, before you even think about implementation, it's training. We have trained so many people in this country to this point," he told journalists. "So, first is to deal with the question of training, and from there the rollout plan. Because he (Victor Hlungwani) will then be taking it over with FIFA and CAF to say how best can we train, who, when and how do we train?"
Watch This Space
SAFA are clamping down on the sorry state of refereeing in the country and more and more tools are being developed to assist match officials. Talk of VAR and the professionalisation of refereeing in the country is gaining momentum. There have been suggestions of referees providing post-match interviews that give insight into some of the decisions taken, which could go a long way in providing clarity for all stakeholders involved.
