TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic hits out at state of refereeing in South Africa, calls for professionalisation of match officials

The TS Galaxy coach was again left questioning the standard of refereeing following his side’s recent 2-1 defeat to Stellenbosch in a DStv Premiership match.

The Rockets had taken a 41st-minute lead at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday through Lehlohonolo Mojela, only to concede twice in the second half.

Fawaaz Basadien pulled a goal back for Stellies on 53 minutes before Andre de Jong sealed the three points with his strike on 61 minutes.

Speaking after the game, Ramovic explained that his side has been on the end of questionable refereeing decisions since he arrived in the country in 2021.

The head coach told the Sowetan: “I have been here for two and a half seasons and if somebody goes through our games they will see how many points we lost because of mistakes from the referees.

“Last season, we lost at least 10 points (in the league) because of poor refereeing. Against Stellenbosch in the [Carling Knockout final] there were many unwarranted calls in their favour plus we didn’t get a penalty in the last minutes. A clear one on Samir Nurkovic in the 92nd minute of the game.

“[Against Kaizer] Chiefs a clear handball we didn’t get and every time what I hear (is that) it was a mistake of the referee.”

Ramovic added: “We work very hard just like other clubs do, we also have families. We are trying to improve and win because it is our bread, you then get disappointed when you see that referees don’t get improvement.

“I would like to see the referees get help by being professional. If we want referees to be improved, they have to get things better like education and to be professional.

“Then the league will be better because we need good referees and poor referees kill the game.

“The referees are not good enough. That’s why the South African referees are not in the CAF competitions recently, so we have to change something and if we don’t change, we will get what we have now.”