Former SAFA referee and SABC Sport analyst Victor Hlungwani has criticised two major refereeing decisions from last weekend’s Betway Premiership matches.
Hlungwani believes Orlando Pirates were wrongly awarded a penalty during their 3-0 victory over Magesi FC in Polokwane.
Pirates secured the win through goals from Patrick Maswanganyi, Kamogelo Sebelebele, and Oswin Appollis, who converted from the penalty spot late in the match.
The penalty was awarded after Sebelebele went down inside the box, but Hlungwani insists the contact was not sufficient to justify the decision.
“Sebelebele was awarded a penalty. But was it awarded correctly?” said Hlungwani on Soccer Zone.
“There is a hand on him, but was that enough to send him down? The answer is no.”
The former referee explained that contact alone does not automatically result in a penalty.
“The contact must be enough, must have impact,” he added.
“So here the contact was not enough. But Sebelebele, seeing that he is in the penalty area, took a chance and got a penalty.”
Hlungwani also reacted to Mamelodi Sundowns’ dramatic 7-4 victory over Siwelele FC, where a Sundowns goal was controversially ruled out for offside.
According to the analyst, the assistant referee made a clear error.
“The score could have been 8-4, but it ended 7-4,” he said.
“In terms of offside law, you can see that Lethlaku is onside, and when he crosses the ball, there was no offside. The assistant referee got it wrong.”
With the Betway Premiership title race becoming increasingly intense, controversial officiating decisions continue to add even more drama to an already explosive season.