OPINION: Bafana Bafana may have to suck it up

Maguette Ndiaye is a Senegalese referee who may or may not have been known to South African football fans before Sunday’s heartbreak at the Cape Coast Stadium, but he is certainly known now, and for all the wrong reasons.

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It was hard enough for Bafana to face the prospect of having to at least hold the Black Stars of Ghana to a draw in their last Group G match, to make the final qualifying round for the Fifa World Cup finals in Qatar next year.

What they could certainly have done without is a woeful penalty decision from Ndiaye, pointing to the spot as Daniel Amartey’s broad frame crashed to the ground under little to no contact from Rushine De Reuck.

De Reuck was in tears at the final whistle, a 1-0 win for Ghana, courtesy of Andre Ayew’s penalty, sending Bafana out in heartbreaking fashion, after they had led the group for most of the campaign.

But the Sundowns defender should not blame himself, and instead a finger needs to be pointed more at Amartey’s theatrics and Ndiaye’s decision.

It certainly enhances the case for VAR to be introduced in all Fifa World Cup qualifiers, to avoid such embarrassing moments that can be so decisive in situations as close as this. It literally came down to that Ayew penalty to split Bafana and Ghana on goals scored in the qualifiers.

One’s mind also harks back to the first game against Ghana at FNB Stadium, when Percy Tau headed in a perfectly good goal that was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

If Bafana had won that game 2-0, in theory, a 1-0 defeat would have put Bafana through on goal difference on Sunday.
This point is slightly selective in its hearing, admittedly, with no one knowing actually what would have happened in an alternate reality, if Tau’s “goal” had stood.

But it does enforce again a need to use technology to help referees get decisions right.

Ghana were the better team at the Cape Coast Stadium, and if they had won 1-0 with a legitimate goal on Sunday it would have been impossible to complain.

But this just leaves a bad taste in the mouth, all the way to the South African Football Association, who it emerged yesterday are writing to Fifa and Caf, asking them to investigate the refereeing of Ndiaye and his assistants.

The Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe used the word “manipulation” in a strongly-worded statement yesterday, and referred to the World Cup qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Senegal in 2016, which Bafana won 2-1 at home, but which was subsequently ordered to be replayed, after referee Joseph Lamptey had been found guilty of match manipulation.

Fifa’s investigation of Lamptey followed a complaint from the Senegal Football Association, but their case was based on suspicious betting activity, and presumably there would have to ultimately be evidence of this for Fifa to investigate Ndiaye, rather simply on the back of any dubious decisions he made against Bafana.

More likely is that Bafana will just have to suck it up and take heart from a brave display in qualifying. Broos came in and did superbly with a young Bafana side to so nearly make it into the play-offs.

And Bafana must also learn from their own mistakes, such as not scoring more goals against Zimbabwe on Thursday, and more importantly, apparently not knowing beforehand that they had to, if they were to have a chance to go through.