Referee Jelly Chavani could be facing suspension from PSL matches, as the SAFA refereeing review committee sit on the offside incident involving the game between Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows.
Chavani stunned the football fraternity after overruling an offside decision by the assistant referee, who was in line with the incident that involved Gabadinho Mhango scoring an equalising goal for Swallows in the dying minutes in their 2-2 draw against Sundowns last week Monday.
The 28-year-old match official came to the decision to award The Birds a goal, which was initially ruled offside, after consultation, using a communication device and earpiece worn by the referees.
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It appears what Chavani was consulting was what the rule says in that incident and following a verdict by two former referees, he seemed to have made a wrong call.
According to former referee Victor Hlungwani, what made the incident confusing, for even the match officials, was that FIFA has made a change on the offside rule, where the most important factor has to do with whether the defender was in control of the ball.
"As a key determining factor, was the player (Mosa Lebusa) in control of the ball? The answer is no. So, that's where offside comes in. That's where the assistant referee flagged for offside because he feels that the player was backpedalling, he never had control of the ball and Mhango was in an offside position," Hlungwani explained on Metro FM Sports.
"So, that is offside, gaining an advantage when the ball rebounds or was saved to him and he (Mhango) gained advantage by being in that position," 'The Principal' said.
Another former PSL and FIFA referee, Dr. Errol Sweeney, came to the same conclusion, that the Sundowns defender, Lebusa, was not in control of the ball and therefore Mhango gained advantage by being in an offside position after he received the rebound.
"The defender (Lebusa) did not head the ball back, so it cannot be deemed to be the so-called back pass," Sweeney said, giving his view on 947's MSW.
"He made an attempt to play the ball, which went slightly sideways, so the intention was not to pass the ball to his goalkeeper. Therefore the attacker, in my opinion, is still offside and, in my opinion, the assistant referee was 100 percent correct in raising the flag for offside," Sweeney added.
SAFA head of referees Abdul Ebrahim has confirmed that the above incident is now with the review committee and Chavani could face up to 12 weeks of rehabilitation, if it is found that he made a bad error.
"That incident (Moroka Swallows 2-2 Mamelodi Sundowns) plus every other offside incident will be reviewed and if there's anything that they pick up, the review committee makes the recommendation and the refereeing department acts on that," Ebrahim confirmed on Radio 2000's Game On.
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"If it is deemed a particular match official has not performed well, then we may recommend a rehabilitation, meaning that match official will not be appointed to Premier League or National First Division matches but may officiate in the Diski Challenge League or in the Hollywoodbets (Super League).
"If it's a bad error, we may recommend a longer rehabilitation period. It could be anything from two weeks to 12 weeks, depending on the seriousness of the error, if there is an error that we pick up," Ebrahim added.
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