SAFA have suspended two match officials who have made huge mistakes recently after the body’s review committee found them to have erred in their work.
The first of the two suspended match officials is Cledwin Baloyi, as first reported by SABC Sport. He was first assistant when he denied Swallows FC a clear goal against TS Galaxy last month,
Baloyi raised his flag that Waseem Isaacs was offside before Keegan Allen scored what could have been the winning goal at the end.
That left Swallows highly incensed, leading to coach Ernst Middendorp’s assistant coach Musa Nyatama being sent off for haranguing Baloyi at the end.
Another official who has been put on ice was Tshidiso Maruping (pictured), who got his decision wrong when he awarded Golden Arrows a penalty against SuperSport United at Princess Magogo Stadium last month.
The ball actually bounced to Siyabonga Nhlapo’s arm that was folded, but based on what he saw, he pointed to the spot and Arrows won the match at the end, leaving coach Gavin Hunt fuming.
As they have got things wrong, SAFA’s review committee sat down following complaints from SuperSport and Swallows respectively and the mother body of football has since suspended them until further notice.
“We have found that they have made one or two errors in their matches and the review committee has made the recommendations with regards to their performances in matches,” said SAFA Head of Referees, Abdul Ebrahim to iDiski Times.
“Therefore they are out for the set period.”
While they are suspended in the top flight football for four weeks, they can referee in matches in the DStv Diski Challenge or also in the lower division such as ABC Motsepe League.
They will only get back to the top flight football when the review committee has seen an improvement in their games.
“They could do Diski Challenge matches or ABC Motsepe League and that will depend on where they are appointed or if they are appointed by the appointing officer,” said Ebrahim.
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“Because, for example, you can’t put a match official isolated for four weeks and expect them after four weeks they must step in into the Premier League or Motsepe Foundation Championship to officiate again.
“It is better to put them into the programme and while they are on the programme, they get to officiate in matches [not in the top flight] and they are being assessed on the regular basis.”
