The past few weeks have been a breath of fresh air for coaches and some club owners in the Glad Africa Championship.
This is according to Jomo Cosmos club owner and head coach Jomo Sono, when he was asked about the controversy surrounding the questionable match officiating which was alleged to be taking place.
Certain teams were alleged to have been benefiting from dubious and controversial officiating as part of a syndicate to work towards promoting certain teams to the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Sono says ever since this topic got media attention, things have changed for now.
SABC Sport was reliably told by some of the officials at SAFA that the target seems to be the unemployed match officials as they are vulnerable and in need of this money. And this is a story that Sono seemed to be collaborating on Tuesday.
Cosmos has been frequenting the route between the PSL and the First Division in the last decade.
But now, they are taking longer to return to the elite level than before. But in giving credence to the reports about corruption and bribery in this division, Sono says he will not fall for buying his way back to the lucrative elite league.
Besides going to the South African Police Service (SAPS) to hold a meeting with them and reporting the matter, SAFA has also brought in some of the countries’ top referees into this division.
Top referees in the country like Victor Gomez, Victor Hlungwani, Abongile Tom and other leading match officials, have handled some games in the First Division in recent weeks.
One of those games involved TS Galaxy and head coach Dan “Dance” Malesela says he noted some improvement but overall feels the match officials need help.
University of Pretoria is one of the teams which has been on the receiving end of the controversial match officiating in the First Division, but their coach Zipho Dlangalala says the match officials are receiving too much attention.
– Report by Velile Mnyandu
