Kaizer Chiefs conceding a penalty and being reduced to 10 men were both correct decisions by referee Luxolo Badi, according to former PSL referee Victor Hlungwani.
‘The Principal‘ insisted that Badi, who had come under heavy scrutiny for his decision-making in the same fixture a month ago, was on top of his game on the afternoon with three key decisions.
The first incident was when Njabulo Blom fouled Lucas Ribeiro in the 18-yard area which resulted in a spot kick for Mamelodi Sundowns, with Hlungwani giving props to the referee for making the correct decision.
“There’s a penalty given, some say ‘Was it a foul or not’? Let’s go to it and see,” Hlungwani said on SABC Sport’s Soccerzone.
“If you are behind my friend, if you are behind Blom whatever you do it’s an infringement on the laws of the game.
“You can see that he start with the knee and he also got him on the ground there.
“So here, correct decision there by Luxolo Badi for giving a penalty,” he said.
The second incident dissected was that of Peter Shalulile scoring a goal with the opposition fans arguing that the Sundowns attacker was in an offside position.
“Shalulile scored a goal and people are saying he’s offside, but let’s go and see,” Hlungwani continued.
“The law says a player cannot be offside if he’s behind the ball or there’s an opponent close by.
“So, now if you look at it here you’ll see that Shalulile is behind the ball. He’s behind the ball. He’s not even in an offside position when you’re behind the ball.
“Correct decision by Zakhele Siwela not to flag because the player’s behind the ball. It complies with the laws of the game,” he added.
And lastly, Miguel Inacio given his marching orders after a second bookable offence.
“Let’s go to the last one where we see a second yellow card given to Miguel,” Hlungwani further said.
“This is the first yellow where he tripped or what we call SPA [Stopping a Promising Attack] on Lucas Ribeiro. So, he got a yellow card.
“Now, the second one, was it necessary for him to commit this offence because I see it as a cover, but Luxolo Badi there being on top form for this match, here there’s holding an offense by Miguel on Shalulile there, but [Rushwin] Dortley is covering.
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“I don’t know why he took one for the team. To me, I think it was unnecessary but then Luxolo Badi correctly positioned, issued a second yellow and a red card. Correct decision by Luxolo Badi,” Hlungwani concluded.
