PHALABORWA: Rivals replay request refused

The Makhushane All Nations Football Club had an unfinished game against their rivals, Majeje All Nations Football Club, after the sun had set and the referee stopped the game since he could not see.

The semi-finals of the tournament took place at the grounds of Selati in Makhushane on Sunday, April 28.

With only five minutes remaining of the game, the referee stopped it.

This led to a huge argument between the teams as the Makhushane All Nations were requesting a replay while their rivals were refusing.

George Mathebula, Majeje All Nations coach, said that according to him the game was fair and that he did not see mistakes.

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“The problem started when they realised that we won and then claimed that they could not see, therefore they requested a replay. I do not understand how we could do a replay for only five minutes, it is impossible. This is unfair. It shows that they are just making an issue out of something which is obvious that they lost the game,” said the exasperated Mathebula.

He further blamed the referee for not stopping the game while noticing that it was getting dark.

“He should have stopped it even ten minutes before the finishing time”.

The Makhushane All Nations coach, Shadrack Malatji, said that the game was 50/50, but due to the way it ended, it had to be replayed as we do not know what was going to happen in the last remaining five minutes, maybe our players would have scored something.

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The referee, Success Mahasha, stated that the game was fair and simple, but then supporters were giving him a hard time. They were trying to control the game and put him under pressure.

“I was not having any fear of making mistakes as I knew what I was doing. Should I have made any mistake, I would have apologised to the captains,” he said.

Mahasha also mentioned that the root of the matter was the game began late, and by the time it was supposed to finish, he could not see anything and it was going to be unfair if he continued.

“I stopped the game and asked the management to make a decision as it was not my will to do so. If I had ended it then, it was going to be 1-Nil,” Mahasha explained.

Makhushane All Nations coach, Shadrack Malatji, confirmed to the PHALABORWA HERALD on Monday that the management took a decision of not continuing with the game as it was not their problem of the game beginning late.

This concluded that Majeje All Nations won against their rivals with 1-Nil.