Safa head of referees Abdul Ebrahim is confident SA has enough budding referees who can be as successful as Victor Gomes, tipping Abongile Tom as one of those who’re capable of filling Gomes’s big shoes.

The 39-year-old Gomes has been the principal referee not only for SA but for the continent as well, officiating CAF Champions League and Afcon finals in the past two years. As Gomes is likely to retire after the impending World Cup in Qatar, Ebrahim has allayed fears that Mzansi could struggle to produce another referee in the same mould as Gomes, saying the 30-year-old Tom is among those who are capable of picking up the baton.

“If you look at it, we’ve got quite a few good match officials coming through. We’ve got Abongile Tom, Luxolo Badi, Masixole Bambiso... They just have to go through the same vigorous training which a lot of our international referees are going through,” Ebrahim said on the sidelines of Monday’s send-off event Safa organised to honour Gomes, linesman Zakhele Siwela and medical officer Thulani Ngwenya before they depart for Qatar.

“I keep my fingers crossed that Tom gets the final nod for the CHAN tournament in January [to be staged in Algeria from January 13 to February 14]. So that tells you the development of referees is happening at Safa. Tom is definitely one of the referees that will breach the gap should Gomes retire after the World Cup.”

Tom made his Premiership debut when SuperSport United beat AmaZulu 1-0 in August 2018. To date, Tom has officiated 96 games across all competitions locally and continentally, ditching out nine red cards and 31 penalties in the process.

Ebrahim also confirmed they have plans in place to keep referees fit during the World Cup break. PSL action only resumes on December 30.

“Our technical committee is always busy. The plans have been put in place to make sure match officials stay fit because at the end of December the league games continue,” Ebrahim disclosed.