Victor Gomes and Mohamed Salah had plenty to talk about at the Africa Cup of Nations final. Picture: Shaun Roy/Backpagepix.
Victor Gomes has said that refereeing needs to evolve with the changing times, after his much publicised confrontation with Egypt star Mohamed Salah in the Africa Cup of Nations final in Cameroon.
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The South African match official, the first to be the man in the middle at an Africa Cup of Nations final, was pictured at one point offering Salah his whistle and cards, as if to say ‘If you think you can do a better job …’
Egypt were criticised for their theatrics throughout the tournament, with players often rolling around on the floor, and even outside the lines, the Pharaohs saw head coach Carlos Queiroz sent to the stands in the semifinal.
Ultimately Senegal won the final over the Pharaohs on penalties, with the sides level at 0-0 after extra time.
Gomes has never been afraid to assert his personality on a match in his time in both local and international football. And while he would not reveal exactly how the conversation went between him and Liverpool star Salah, he did offer up the following assessment.
“I respect all the players I officiate and I don’t like to talk about decisions but I do like to educate. It is our responsibility to report positively on football matches so everyone understands what we our doing,” said Gomes.
“Football has evolved tremendously over the last 20 years, what players are earning has grown … and I think refereeing has to evolve. You cannot stick to the old adage of refereeing. On Sunday I chose to manage a top class player in a way that I deemed responsible and I think football was the ultimate winner.”
Gomes was generally praised for his performance in the final, along with assistant referee Zakhele Siwela, and he did get the one major decision right early on, in awarding Senegal a penalty for a clear foul on Sadio Mane.
Siwela explained that this decision was helped by the research match officials do on the teams before any game.
“We need to know the players we are dealing with. With Mane and Salah, they always play with pace, and within the first five minutes, there was a penalty and where was he (Gomes)? He was there, because he understoond what could happen. We prepare, work hard and train like anyone else.”
