Abongile Tom backed despite two contentious MTN8 final penalty decisions

Former PSL referee Zolile Mthetho has defended Abongile Tom’s appointment for the MTN8 final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, despite two penalty decisions that could have affected the outcome.

Tom, 34, is regarded as one of the leading referees in South Africa and on the continent. He first awarded Pirates a spot-kick shortly after the hour mark when Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was judged to have committed an offence. Williams then kept his side in the match by saving Gamphani Lungu’s penalty.

Tom was involved in another major decision during stoppage time, this time awarding Sundowns a penalty after Siyanda Ndlovu went down in the box following what appeared to be only slight contact from Thapelo Mokobodi.

Mthetho said Tom’s handling of the confrontation that followed helped prevent the final from being overshadowed by further incidents. Members of both technical areas entered the pitch as tensions rose, but the referee and his first assistant worked to calm the situation.

“Besides (two penalty incidents) he did very well, that technical area we call a danger area and it has to be given 100 percent attention by the match officials, hence after that commotion, both Abongile and the first assistant they just went to try and manage the confrontations,” Mthetho told KickOff.

He also explained why the officials did not issue cautions during the disturbance.

“In such situations, it is much correct to do that (not to give cautions), because once you caution one or two players or two people, those who are cautioned will ask why you are not cautioning the opponent, so it’s better to manage the situation without issue of cards. The (refereeing) team did very well except for the two penalty incidents.

“Being a referee we’re judged like a goalkeeper, you can make 90 saves in a match and concede one goal, you are blamed for that one goal as if there were no saves you made before you conceded, it’s the same with referees.”

Mthetho said the decision to appoint Tom was also linked to the way matches are classified by the PSL. He said a fixture between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates is considered a category A match, meaning it must be handled by officials from the country’s elite refereeing group.

“The problem is that games are categorized, so Sundowns v Pirates is category A, so it needs elite referees to officiate the match,” Mthetho said.

“As much as they are all doing PSL matches but there is a group of referees considered elite referees in the country, who are tasked with handling category A matches,” added the former PSL Referee of the Season.