The South African Football Association’s (SAFA) head of referees, Tenda Masikhwa, has praised the standard of officiating in Saturday’s Soweto Derby.
Referees have come under fire from Premiership coaches for poor decisions, with Masikhwa having recently admitted that the standard of officiating across the country needs to improve.
However, he revealed that he has received positive feedback on the Soweto Derby, which was refereed by Eketsang Setloboko.
Setloboko declined to award Kaizer Chiefs an early penalty for a challenge from Happy Jele on Khama Billiat, but otherwise, there were few controversial moments, if any, in terms of his afternoon — although there were some tight offside calls for his assistants to make.
“We have received massive positive feedback from all corners of the country including outside people who watched this Derby across the world,” Masikhwa told SAFA’s website.
“It was refreshing to see even the spectators applauding the good work of our match officials. It is rare to see referees getting such positive feedback from the public.”
Orlando Pirates won the game 2-1, with goals from Innocent Maela and Vincent Pule snatching the three points at FNB Stadium after Billiat’s opener for Kaizer Chiefs.
