Sundowns coach slams assistant ref, calls for VAR introduction

For a long time, Zakhele Siwela has been praised as one of the best assistant referees in the country, but Sunday’s performance in the MTN8 quarterfinal between Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs saw him miss an opportunity to earn more respect and confidence.

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Siwela failed to award Downs a goal in the penalty shoot-out, when Lyle Lakay’s effort had clearly crossed the line, and also failed to spot Sundowns goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene coming off his line for all four of the penalties that the Zambian saved, as Sundowns beat Amakhosi 2-1 on penalties in a bizarre shoot-out.

Sundowns co-head coach, Manqoba Mngqithi, was peeved and reiterated calls for the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

“The need for VAR is there, it makes a lot of difference. They sometimes also make mistakes but in this case, Zakhele was there. What is the use of bringing the linesman into that area if he is not going to be able to tell the referee if it is a goal?

“The linesman was close to the situation there, unlike when he was on the touchline, but it still went on. I also believe that we had a penalty call in the second half but we also have to accept that people make mistakes and we also make mistakes. But on the penalty, I’m sure when they looked at the video, they realised that we were not shouting at them for nothing because they made a mistake. But that’s football,” said Mngqithi.

He had something to smile about, at least, as Masandawana reached the MTN8 semifinals for the second season running.

This trophy has been one Sundowns have failed to get their hands on for 14 years – even under Pitso Mosiamne they found themselves wanting.

Mngqithi hopes for better fortune this time around – they will face Golden Arrows in the semifinals.

“It is always difficult to say it is time, but it is an opportunity because we are in the semifinals. If we can fight to go through the semifinals…it is one step closer. We bombed out in the semifinals against Bloemfontein Celtic last season and we lost the final against Wits in 2016… stepping into the semifinals has always been a challenge.”