Khaya Ndubane

By Khaya Ndubane

Digital Manager Phakaaathi


Safa appoint Ebrahim as new head of referees

Ebrahim, who is a former Fifa referee and Fifa/Caf trained instructor, takes over from Tenda Masikhwa who has left the association to pursue other opportunities.


The South African Football Association (Safa) has announced the appointment of Abdul Basit Ebrahim as the new Head of Referees.

READ: Gloves off in Safa, PSL fight over season restart

Ebrahim, who is a former Fifa referee and Fifa/Caf trained instructor, takes over from Tenda Masikhwa who has left the association to pursue other opportunities.

Ebrahim, who is busy ensuring that the match officials are tested for COVID-19 and are ready for the resumption of Premier Soccer League matches,  says Masikhwa has left behind an ideal platform for him to work from.

“First, I would like to thank everyone especially Safa for providing me with this challenging but exciting opportunity to head the referees’ department.

“South Africa has been at the forefront of producing the best match officials on the continent and I would like the country to continue being pacesetters in this area. I want to assure everyone that I will do my best in this position,” said Ebrahim in a Safa statement on the association’s website.

“I would like to thank and acknowledge the sterling work that has been done by Tenda Masikhwa over the years in this department. He leaves behind an ideal platform on which to work from,” added Ebrahim.

“It has already been a busy few days as we have brought in the first group of referees and we have taken them through the health and safety regulations as well as doing physical exercises in preparation for the resumption and completion of the 2019/2020 league season,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, the PSL Board of Governors is expected to meet today (Monday) to debate whether or not to resume the season or cancel it.

The meeting was supposed to have taken place on Friday, but was rescheduled for Monday following the death of PSL chairman Irvin Khoza’s wife.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

Read more on these topics

South African Football Association (SAFA)

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.