Malesela leaves poor match officiating in God’s hands

Marumo Gallants coach Dan Malesela says it is going to be a sad day for football when the match is no longer controlled by players, but by match officials.

Malesela was reacting to an incident that happened towards the end of their 1-0 defeat by Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday.

Marumo had scored from what was a clear offside which was picked by the assistant referee. But while Marumo were still protesting, Sundowns continued to play, and the referee allowed it. The home side nearly scored their second from the incident.

This left the Marumo bench and players fuming and confronting match officials.  

WHAT EXPERIENCE TAUGHT HIM

“The football here at home has taught me not to focus on certain things,” Malesela said after the match.

‘Because people have been speaking for years about the same thing, but it doesn’t help. I need to focus on things that I can control, and the things I can control are within the team. If they are not there, it’s not going to help.

“I am not going to be worried about certain things because it doesn’t change anything. It’s not my duty to fix other people, it’s not my job. My job is to fix my team, other people must fix themselves. Or they must wait for God, and God will fix them,” said Malesela referring to the referees.

MALESELA CONCERNED

“This game is just too big that it involves people’s lives. The day certain individuals learn that there are families involved, there are lives of people involved, the better. Because somebody somewhere loses their job, people don’t care,” he said.

“It’s not my department to worry about, people who are responsible for certain people must worry about those people, I will worry about the team. It is going to be sad one day when South African football is not controlled by the players. It is going to be a sad day. I probably won’t be alive at the time.”