SAFA feels that African referees are treated unfairly and they are fuming at FIFA to have released Victor Gomes early before the tournament ended, saying he did well in two matches he was in charge.
FIFA has opted to let Gomes leave the tournament along with some of the referees from the continent, which is clear indication that they will no longer be needed in the next four matches left in Qatar.
The World Cup semi finals, starting today between Argentina against Croatia, with Italian referee Daniel Orsato being in charge, while France and Morocco will be handled by Cesar Arturo Ramos from Mexico.
Gomes was in charge of two group stage matches and more than any other official from the continent and he was also the fourth official when Argentina beat the Netherlands in the quarter-final.
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That match was officiated by Spanish referee, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, who dished out 17 yellow cards and one red card and was also sent home.
Bakary Papa Gassama from Gambia, who is one of the most experienced in Africa, was only in charge of one game – Netherlands beating hosts Qatar 2-0 in the group stages.
Janny Sikazwe from Zambia, who grabbed the headlines during the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon (AFCON) earlier this year, was only in charge of Belgium beating Canada 1-0 also in the group stages.
Senegalese Maguette Ndiaye was the most heavily involved in these World Cup finals in Qatar from Africa but none being man in the middle. He was the fourth official six times in the tournament.
“I actually thought our boys would stand a good chance to be in the quarter-finals and even in the semi-finals,” SAFA Head of Referees Abdul Ebrahim told iDiski Times.
“Myself having watched and each and every game, having watched each and every match official – even Zakhele Siwela (assistant who was also in the World Cup), I said to them, you have no reason to stand back and you are just as good as those referees from any part of the world.
“We saw that, and Victor had two very good games and all our African referees had good games. Maybe they were one or two incidents from Janny Sikazwe – but they represented Africa well.
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“Yes, it is disappointing that Zakhele and Victor have been released early, but the appointment is something that is out of our hands. We have to ask why African referees are not given the opportunity on the global stage to do those kinds of finals.
“If you saw, there is not even a gap we can talk about. It is a factor that is out of our hands.”
The last time an Africa referee handled the World Cup final was Said Belqola from Morocco in 1998 when host nation France beat Brazil 3-0.
Achmat Salie from Mzansi was the second assistant on that day, while Mark Warren from England was the first assistant.
Story by Robin-Duke Madlala (@duke_robin).
