Safa suspends assistant referee accused of being a Chiefs fan
The South African Football Association (Safa) has confirmed that an assistant referee Mervyn Van Wyk has been suspended after his questionable calls in a game against AmaZulu and Kaizer Chiefs.
Kaizer Chiefs fans dejected during the 2018 Telkom Knockout semifinal match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates at Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban on 24 November 2018 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Safa chairperson of referees Ari Soldatos told SAFM that Van Wyk is back in his region until the review committee comes with sanctions against him.
“The assistant ref in the Chiefs vs AmaZulu game is one of our finest. I know what happened, he thought the ball would be played by another player. He should have applied the wait and see rule. He will be the first one to admit that he was wrong,” said Soldatos.
Soldatos added that they have had a chance to look at the decisions taken by Van Wyk during the game and they agreed that he erred in not allowing the goal to stand.
“That was definitely not an offside and even before the review sat next Tuesday, that ref was removed from all the games he was going to officiate. He is back in his region until the review committee comes with sanctions.”
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