Fifa snub reflects poor state of SA refs – Sweeney

Legendary SA referee Errol Sweeney has described Fifa’s decision to snub SA match officials for the upcoming expanded Club World Cup as “bad news” and suggested this was a reflection of the dwindling standard of refereeing in the country.

Last week, Fifa confirmed that a total of 117 match officials – 35 referees, 58 assistant referees and 24 video assistant match officials – from 41 member associations will officiate at this year’s Club World Cup, to be hosted by the US from June 14 to July 13. 

The omission of SA match officials comes at a time when refereeing in the country is under scrutiny, with many coaches calling for the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology amid glaring errors by match officials' week in and week out in the PSL.

“This is terribly disappointing,” Sweeney told Sowetan. “It’s just bad news. This means SA has gone off the radar when it comes to the appointment of match officials. The guys have Fifa badges and are qualified to referee at an international level, but that doesn’t mean they’ll automatically be selected ... it’s based on performances.

“And it would appear that the performances of the SA match officials haven’t been up to scratch in recent years. I am [not talking about] the likes of the late Ian McLeod, Ahmed Salie, [and] Ari Soldatos. I coached and mentored those guys.

“Subsequently, we had Jerome Damon and Enoch Molefe ... those guys went to two senior World Cups and several Under-17 World Cups, but since then, the standard has been dropping. Okay, Victor Gomes was there for a while, but Fifa seems to have completely overlooked SA and that’s a big worry.”

Safa head of referees, Abdul Ebrahim, refused to weigh in on Fifa’s snub. Africa will have five referees at the Club World Cup: Issa Sy (Senegal), Jean Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DRC), Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Ibrahim Mutaz (Libya) and Dahane Beida (Mauritania).

Africa’s assistant referees will be: Nouha Bangoura and Djibril Camara from Senegal, the Algerian duo of Mokrane Gurari and Abbess Akram Zerhouni, and Stephen Yiembe of Kenya. Ashour Mahmoud from Egypt and Morocco’s El Fariq Hamza were selected for the VAR department.

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