SAFA's head of referees, Abdul Ebrahim has leapt to the defence of Jelly Chavani after the PSL referee awarded Kaizer Chiefs a controversial penalty on Sunday.
Benni McCarthy’s AmaZulu appeared to be on the road to a slender win before defender Mbongeni Gumede was adjudged to have handled the ball in the danger area.
Referee Chavani consulted the fourth match official, Emmanuel De Sani, before awarding Amakhosi a spot-kick in injury time despite the vociferous protests of the Amazulu players and technical bench.
Later television replays showed that Gumede had both his arms tucked behind his back as he blocked the initial attempt on goal.
Keagan Dolly subsequently converted the spot-kick, handing Chiefs a share of the spoils.
Usuthu fans and supporters of rival teams were all united in voicing their disappointment at the late penalty call, and Safa’s head of referees says some of the criticism has been unfair.
“The comments that have been received from people following the Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu game are disappointing,” said Ebrahim, as quoted by Times LIVE.
“The refs are human and unfortunately they make mistakes and if a referee makes one mistake that does not make him a bad referee.”
Ebrahim continued: “I can say the incident has been reviewed and the only thing we are waiting for is the report from the review committee.
“Unfortunately I cannot pre-empt the recommendation from the review committee. I do sit in the review committee meetings, however, I am there as technical person and I do not get involved in the recommendations.
“I don’t want to harp too much on the incident in the Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu game until the report is received from the review committee.”
