PSL Referee Jelly Chavani Suspended for Giving Kaizer Chiefs Dodgy Penalty

• SAFA has decided to take action against the referees who officiated the game between Kaizer Chiefs and AmaZulu
• A controversial penalty was given in the dying minutes of the game, leading to questions being asked about officiating
• Referees are humans who make mistakes just like everyone else but SAFA is taking their officiating seriously this season

The Referees Review Committee of the South African Football Association (SAFA) has suspended Jelly Chavani and Moeketsi Molelekoa for awarding Kaizer Chiefs a contentious penalty during their league match against AmaZulu on Saturday.

After grabbing an early lead in the second half thanks to a pin-point Luvuyo Memela shot, Usuthu dominated for the majority of the second half. However, Chavani's decision to award Chiefs a late penalty cost them three points.

The referees' committee convened on Wednesday morning, according to Soccer Laduma, to discuss the degree of Chavani and Molelekoa's officiating. They decided to bar the pair from officiating any football games for at least four weeks.

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Furthermore, for the first two weeks after their return, they will only be allowed to officiate in the lower levels-the DStv Diski Challenge and the ABC Motsepe league according to IOL. The decision to put the two on ice is claimed to be made to demonstrate SAFA's opposition to poor officiating.

The reaction to the penalty granted to Kaizer Chiefs during last Saturday's 1-1 Premier Soccer League tie against AmaZulu was "disappointing," according to SAFA head of referees Abdul Ebrahim but he believes match officials are people who make mistakes.

"We are constantly educating our refs. When a ref is suspended, they are assigned a mentor who sits with them maybe three times a week going through incidents and how to deal better with incidents in future," said Ebrahim.

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Benni McCarthy refused to criticise the match officials after the game

Briefly News previously reported that AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy decided to not criticise match officials after the game with Kaizer Chiefs which is something out of character for him. Instead, McCarthy chose to focus on his team's good performance despite the game ending 1-1.

After checking with his co-official, referee Jelly Chavani decided that AmaZulu defender Mbongeni Gumede had handled the ball inside the box. This gave Keagan Dolly the opportunity to tie the match and the spoils were shared.

Despite being visibly angered by the decision, McCarthy refused to criticise Chavani for fear of being sanctioned by the league's disciplinary committee according to IOL.

Source: Briefly News