TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic has questioned the strange reversed-penalty decision in his side’s 2-0 defeat to Cape Town Spurs.
Spurs won 2-0 on Sunday afternoon, scoring both goals in the first half.
However, Galaxy thought they had a chance to get a goal back in the second half when the referee pointed at the spot after a supposed foul on Samir Nurkovic, only to cancel his decision.
Ramovic, who admitted his side didn’t start well, was puzzled by the situation regarding a penalty that was awarded by Thabo Mkhabela, only for him to overrule his own decision a few minutes later.
“Then it came to the very, very strange situation that it’s a penalty,” Ramovic said after the match.
“I think in my view, it is it is a clear one. Now some of them, they will now talk, it was a small touch or it was a big touch. Now the way my question is, when it’s now a small touch and when is our big touch, it is a touch in the box. He had the arms, he touched Samir, penalty.
“Referee went in and said what? Penalty and after that everybody was ready, the linesman he came on the side to stand there where he should stay. He talked to the keeper, he should go back. He talked to my player, put the ball back please on the 11 metre point. And then he went to the assistant and say ‘no, it’s not a penalty’.
“Now explain to me because I don’t know now anymore the rules. Maybe he got I don’t know a call or not? Because I don’t know now. I really would like to know what’s now the rules. If a referee says it’s a penalty, and still after two minutes, they are still trying to get everybody on position. And after two three minutes, he said no, it’s not a penalty.
“Secret VAR? Even if there is a VAR it’s a penalty because he touched him. But again, we don’t have the VAR. So what is now the point? What’s the rule of this referees, I would just like to know the rules. And the same referee, the last game, Stellenbosch against SuperSport. Last man, not a card, no card. Foul, yes a card, but it should not be a card.
“So it is like, yes, no foul, red card, no yellow card, I don’t know now what it is. And I think they need help. Referees in our league, they need help, they need education, and we have to know what is the rules.
“But I think that we know what the rules, but they have maybe special ones that I would like to know, what is yes or no.
“But now it comes again, ‘Ramovic has tried to get the fault on the referees.’ No, it’s not, it’s our fault that we lost the game, it is our fault.
“But it’s part of the game is also the referees, they killing these kind of games and this is where I think we have to improve. If we need to improve, if my players need to improve, I think that everyone also needs to improve also the referees.”
