Cape Town City owner John Comitis has heavily criticized the standard of refereeing in the PSL, saying the ‘integrity of the game is at risk’.
Comitis was speaking after his club received the news that key players Thabo Nodada and Roland Putsche will be out for the rest of the season due to injuries suffered in recent games.
Nodada and Putsche were both injured and had to be replaced after being on the receving end of heavy tackles from opponents in the recent 3-0 win over Highlands Park in the Nedbank Cup.
With both players now on the treatment table, the Cape Town City boss did not hold back when talking about the officials.
Comitis said: “Our last two games in the Premiership and Nedbank Cup we’ve been victims of intimidation and dangerous tackles that has left two of our key players with leg injuries and on the operating table and me with medical bills of R1.5million.
“Roland signed a two-year contract extension, but now doesn’t know if he can honour it.
“It’s criminal to see the guilty party go unpunished by inexperienced referees who seem way out of their depth at the highest level.
“Refs with two or three games experience calling the shots and clearly failing in their duties to protect players from career-ending tackles.
“How hard can it be to get eight competent refs from a population of 45 million South Africans? Surely no miracle needed.
“The integrity of the game is at risk. We need action now to address this sad situation.
“Maybe I should be telling my injured to go to the police and lay charges of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm. It’s getting to that point when I see what we all see.”
