Former FIFA referee Ace Ncobo believes that referee Jelly Chavani missed two penalties for Orlando Pirates and should’ve sent off Yusuf Maart early on in the game, while also expalining why Monnapule Saleng’s winner would not have been ruled out by VAR.
It was one of the most memorable derbies in recent times, with Pirates taking the bragging rights after winning the five-goal thriller to complete their first double over Chiefs in 15 years.
However, there were also lots of talking points throughout the match, with Chavani not having the best day at the office, according to Ncobo, who first explained why Maart should’ve been sent off for an early foul on Saleng.
“Look at that, the referee is infront of those players. I don’t understand how he may have missed that because there was no obstruction,” he said on Extra-Time.
“His eyes are on it, take the appropriate action. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 11 minutes or 11 seconds.
“That there is accessive force used, it’s endangering the opponent, that’s a red card yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
Ncobo then discussed a penalty incident after 15 minutes, saying Chavani missed a spot-kick after Reeve Frosler hit the ball with his hand.
“He moves his arm from behind his body towards the ball and he touches the ball,” he continued.
“After realising he’s touched the ball, he pulls it back behind him. He tried to trap the ball, he missed it, it bounced off the ball and against his hand.
“Missed by the referee, would’ve been a penalty.”
Another potential Pirates penalty wasn’t given after 36 minutes for a foul on Tshegofatso Mabasa, with Ncobo again questioning the match official.
“Again, another where I felt the referee positioned himself well, he got close to the action,”
“But again there are things that he misses. Look at the feet when he gets taken out, that’s where the foul takes place. That’s what is missed, that’s where he takes him out from under his feet.
“The referee is there, is close but is focussing on the shoulders and not where it matters the most. That’s a clear penalty.”
Finally, there was a lot of debate whether Saleng’s winnger should’ve been ruled out because substitute Thabiso Monyane had already entered the pitch before the ball had crossed the line – but Ncobo explained why the officials made the right call by awarding the goal.
“His feet is already on the goalline there. Look at him, the ball has not crossed the line yet. His whole body is inside the field of play and people are saying if we had VAR, VAR would’ve disallowed the goal,” he added.
“But let’s look at what the law says – If, after a goal is scored, the referee realises, before play restarts, that an extra person was on the field of play when the goal was scored, and that person interfered with play: the referee must disallow the goal.
“The fact that there is an extra person on the field of play does not mean the referee must disallow the goal. Only when that person interferes with play, you disallow the goal.
