OPINION: Kaizer Chiefs fall foul to a VAR of sorts

There was a strange moment in the Kaizer Chiefs-Moroka Swallows clash at FNB Stadium on Saturday, when referee Masixolo Bambiso stared into space, at times nodding and at times apparently lost in thought. Bambiso had initially given a penalty to Swallows on the hour mark, for a deliberate handball by Phathushedzo Nange.

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Replays showed it was the correct decision, but Bambiso wandered over to his assistant for a chat, wandered back, and with Chiefs‘ Njabulo Blom patting him enthusiastically on the back, the referee seemed to have changed his mind.

Then came the space-staring, the nodding and a bizarre silence, before Bamviso pointed to the spot again, red-carding Nange for his infringement. It must be said that the correct decision was reached in the end – it was a deliberate handball that prevented a goal – but the delay, staring and nodding said to me that someone was having a quiet word in Bambiso’s ear.

Perhaps the fourth official saw that a dreadful error was about to be made, and intervened, which is not technically supposed to happen. Possibly nobody will ever know what acually occured, perhaps Bambiso was composing himself, and nodding to himself, before making the final decision. Either way, the sooner VAR comes into the game in this country, the better.

For all its controversies, the video replay system would have been able to clearly show what had happened here in a matter of seconds. But hey, in some sense however you arrive at the correct decision, so be it, and Swallows FC deserved to get back in the game, and probably win it, as they would have if Bernard Parker had not produced a late free kick for Chiefs.

In the end, even if they had won, it wouldn’t have mattered for Swallows as they would still have ended up in the promotion/relegation play-offs, as TS Galaxy saved themselves with a win at Chippa. It has been a poor season for the Birds, with even experienced coach Dylan Kerr unable to revive them enough to avoid the danger of spending next season in the Glad Africa Championship.

Chiefs’ season has also been a disappointment, for other reasons, as Amakhosi will again go without a trophy and do not even have qualification for continental competition next season as a consolation prize.

Arthur Zwane’s comments after the Swallows game that players in the squad are simply not good enough to play for Chiefs struck me as a little damaging, given that however true, these are matters that should be dealt with internally, rather that throwing your players under the bus.

If Zwane has ambitions to coach Chiefs full time next season, this is not exactly the best way to endear yourself to your players in a team environment.

Whoever Chiefs bring in, meanwhile, faces an almighty challenge to get any closer to Mamelodi Sundowns next season, or even to a piece of silverware, something that has eluded Amakhosi now for seven long seasons.