South African Football Association (SAFA) match officials Luxolo Badi and Sumukele Jali will not officiate in this weekend’s matches, iDiski Times has learnt.
The mother body of football took this decision after Badi and Jali disallowed a legitimate goal when AmaZulu midfielder Hendrick Ekstein thought he had scored what was an equaliser against Royal AM at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday night.
Ekstein tucked home the ball in the second half, but Jali raised his flag for offside, raising a fury to AmaZulu management and coach Romain Folz after the game.
The former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder was put onside since the ball did not come from his fellow teammates, but from a Royal AM player, in which by FIFA law he was onside even if he was in the offside position.
Having witnessed this, Usuthu management then lodged an official complaint to the PSL that they felt the referees are no longer making mistakes, but there is more to it especially for AmaZulu this season, which was confirmed by the club president Sandile Zungu.
AmaZulu players also appealed for the handball, but it was the right call not to point to the spot kick by Badi as the ball initially struck the limb of Samuel Manganyi before hitting his hand.
“The information I have is that the two match officials who were involved in the AmaZulu and Royal AM game won’t receive appointments in the NSL this weekend,” SAFA head of referees Abdul Ebrahim told iDiski Times.
“Other than that, I don’t have any information.”
This decision was taken after the SAFA review committee watched their performances which shocked many how such a decision was made, even though the goal initially was called a goal, but Badi was overruled by Jali, who was the second assistant in the match on the far side.
Jali and Badi suspension follows the other two match officials – Cledwin Baloyi and Tshidiso Maruping, who were put on ice after they had a shock in their matches in January.
As it has been the case, the four match officials will only recall into the top-flight football matches once they satisfy the SAFA refereeing department.
