The confirmation of the worst-kept secret that Victor Gomes is walking away from officiating after returning from the World Cup as a millionaire has ended a career in which he was always for issuing cards like confetti at a wedding.
Gomes walks away from being a referee despite still being eligible to run with the whistle for yet another seven years with the domestic cut-off age standing at 47.
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The cut-off age for FIFA referees is 45.
His last piece of action on the domestic front was the Soweto derby on October 29 with only a single booking recorded for Sifiso Hlanti in what was one of the matches in which he didn't caution much.
Since becoming eligible to officiate PSL games in 2008 and then entering the international stage three years later he has run the rule in over 300 matches.
Most of his games were on the DStv Premiership with Mamelodi Sundowns the team that he was assigned to referee the most at 40 games.
Close in second was Orlando Pirates (38) while Kaizer Chiefs are down at seventh with 26 games.
Top of the list of non-South African clubs that he handled the most are Egyptian giants Al Ahly (9 games) followed by Esperance (8), and TP Mazembe (6).
His famed 'soft hand' has him standing at 1042 yellow cards from 324 games in all competitions on the domestic front plus all CAF sanctioned matches plus the World Cup, Olympic Games, Saudi Pro League, and international friendlies.
His red card numbers stand at 51 with the most recent having been the two he handed to Gabadinho Mhango and Lehlogonolo Matlou in the MTN8 semi-final tie between Chiefs and AmaZulu in October.
The most red cards offs were for BidVest Wits (8 from 35 games) while SuperSport United topped the yellow cards count with 75 from 37 matches.
Gomes was twice voted the PSL referee of the season despite having grown to be known as trigger-happy in dipping his hands into his pockets for cards.
He has returned home with USD 81 000 (approx. R1,4 million) for the time he spent in Qatar and has officiated both the CAF Champions League and AFCON finals.
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