Safa lauds referee Gomes for not accepting a bribe

Gomes was approached to fix the result of the first leg clash that took place this past weekend in Nigeria, but instead reported the matter to the Confederation of African Football (Caf), who are investigating the issue.

Gomes, was assisted by Johannes Moshidi and Athenkosi Ndongeni, with Thando Ndzandzeka as the fourth official, said they were offered US$30 000 (R362 556) in cash, but turned it down and immediately reported the matter to Caf.

READ: SA referee rejects R300k bribe – report

“Our referees have conducted themselves impeccably well in the sense that they were able to identify and report the issue immediately to Caf for them to make further investigations on the matter. Because it was a Caf appointment, they wrote a report and sent it to them, and they [Caf] are dealing with it,” Tenda Masikhwa, Saf’s head of referees, told the association’s website.

Masikhwa added the honesty displayed by Gomes, and company is partly because of the integrity workshops being conducted by Safa throughout the country.

“Our officials showed the rest of the continent and the world that they won’t tolerate corruption within the game. We are proud of what they did, and this is why South African referees are so much sought after and are highly regarded on the continent,” said Masikhwa.

“On 13-14 February this year, we held an Integrity Workshop in Sandton, Johannesburg, where two Fifa representatives articulated the need to have honest and upright match officials; people of integrity within our game. What we see today are the fruits of that particular workshop,” commented Masikhwa.

“We hope that this will also be a lesson to other match officials who were not part of this Gomes team; that if ever anybody approaches them in future, this is the way the go – report the matter to authorities without delay,” concluded Masikhwa.