Assistant referee accused of being a Chiefs fan loses Fifa badge
SA Football Association (Safa) head of referees Tenda Masikhwa has confirmed that assistant referee Mervyn van Wyk has lost his place on the Fifa referees panel.
Assistant referee Mervyn Van Wyk (far left) has been sanctioned for his blunders in the AmaZulu/Chiefs game.
Van Wyk made a series of blunders during the recent Absa Premiership fixture between AmaZulu and Kaizer Chiefs and later labelled as a Chiefs fan after pictures of him wearing a Chiefs jersey started circulating on social media.
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He has been demoted to officiate in the lower league games as punishment for his poor performance in that game.
“It’s true that he was nominated, but the [referees] committee felt that his performance on September 24 didn’t make the fact that he was recommended enough. I can confirm that his nomination has been withdrawn,” Masikhwa told City Press.
Masikhwa also confirmed on Friday that Van Wyk had been “sanctioned to four weeks of non-appointment in NSL matches”, alongside assistant referee Athuxolo Madela, who made some dubious decisions during the Chiefs versus Baroka league match on September 28.
“They are sanctioned and are required to do regional matches as part of the rehabilitation process,” he said.
He also revealed that action had also been taken against another assistant referee, Shaun Oliver, who denied Khama Billiat a legitimate goal in Chiefs’ league game against Cape Town City in August.
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