Former PSL referee Victor Hlungwani has applauded Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for overturning two crucial decisions in the CAF Confederation Cup semifinal second leg clash between Stellenbosch FC and Simba SC.
A certain section of the Stellies fans felt that the decisions that went against their team were incorrect, going as far as saying the Cape Winelands outfit should have been in the final.
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Hlungwani has however dismissed the claims, saying both decisions taken by VAR were indeed correct.
“Here, we are also talking about interfering with an opponent,” ‘The Principal’ told Soccerzone.
“Let’s go and see if De Jong interfered with play or with an opponent. You can see [Devin] Titus cross the ball there. Here we had VAR, so, when we have VAR, VAR can see if there’s an offside, they can review.
“Here’s the referee there signaling offside. Why offside? We can clearly show you that De Jong’s leg or knee was in an offside position. But who played the ball? The defender played the ball.
“Here’s the leg there in an offside position. When the cross was played, and then the defender played the ball. But because De Jong challenged the defender, so when he challenged the defender, he’s now interfering with an opponent.
“He did not play the ball, the challenged an opponent for the ball.
“So, correct decision by VAR to disallow this goal for offside.”
The second incident also saw VAR intervene once again by chalking off the penalty originally given by the referee after careful consultation.
“The ball makes contact with the hand, the hand is in a natural position of a running player at that particular moment,” Hlungwani said.
“So, we can justify if a player runs, he can put his hand like that. The ball makes contact with the hand in a natural position, hand on the body.
“Referee awarded a penalty, VAR said no ways! When the referee saw it on the screen, he saw that indeed the hand was in a natural position of a running player.
“Therefore, he disallowed the penalty or turned over the decision of the penalty and awarded a drop ball.
“This is correct decision by VAR to disallow the penalty or to overturn the penalty decision.”
