The South African Football Association (SAFA) has given an explanation as to why no referee was honoured at the 2020/21 Premier Soccer League (PSL) awards on Sunday.
South African match officials are usually rewarded at the end of each season with the Referee of the Season and Assistant Referee of the Season title at the annual ceremony.
Last season, the late Shaun Olive and Chelly Javani were recipients but questions were raised over why the officials were not recognized this time around on Sunday evening.
SAFA Head of Referees, Abdul Ebrahim decided to clarify the situation after reports emanated that the association failed to submit their candidates.
“It was almost impossible to meet the close deadline. In the past, the awards ceremony are held a few days after the end of the season and that gives us enough time to process the winning officials,” he said.
“And so trying to blame the Association for not meeting the unrealistic deadline is being disingenuous.”
Ebrahim says the constituted national panel of officials in the GladAfrica Championship and the DStv Premiership are usually assessed before they are graded for the final decision.
“All our committees, Technical, Review and Appointments are made aware of these averages and are requested to submit nominations for Referee and Assistant Referee of the Season.
“Beside the average scores obtained, we also look at the number of technical errors made in the official’s matches and how often during a season, a match official has been sanctioned.
“Once everything has been verified and confirmed, the final nominee list, as well as the winners, are forwarded to the CEO of SAFA to forward to the PSL CEO.”
It is a disappointing situation in all honesty and something that could have been easily avoided as well. It obviously shows poor planning on the part of all parties involved. Unfortunately, the referees have been denied a chance at proper recognition which they barely get in the first place. For sure, this would be avoided next term.