Cape Town Spurs coach Ernst Middendorp has come out fuming over the decisions referees have been making and is prepared to even sit out the whole season if he gets banned by the PSL for his latest utterances.
Middendorp is not the type of man to mince his words and, after the weekend clash against Upington City, the former Kaizer Chiefs mentor made a speech that will no doubt catch the attention of the head honchos at the offices of the PSL and SAFA.
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Referees have come under fire for their poor decisions and Middendorp has clearly had enough, calling for some sort of action to be taken to fix the "never-ending" problem.
"There's a lot of mysterious and irritating decisions that are done. Now I am asking you, what can be the reason for it? Are they overloaded? Are they overloaded with too much to run? Are they overloaded with outside...whatever it is? I think they had nice talks, forwards, backwards and so on. I think we should start thinking about it. We can prove it. Penalties, today, at least two. There's a clear handball, 20 metres in front of the linesman. The pants from this opponent, Upington, is in his hands. What happens? Go on. This is not acceptable anymore. We've had it in Durban. We had it in (Durban) City game, we had it in Milford game and here (Athlone Stadium). Now, it's even starting in our home games. I can accept when it's in away games, but in home games we see irritation of the highest level. We have managers, CEOs in the NFD who already got caught with it. They were arrested and they are still in the service of clubs in the NFD," Middendorp said in his post match interview after the clash against Upington.
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"This is not right. We work seven days, six days to prepare our game. We do each and every thing. We asked the players to do the right stuff. We are loading the players as professionals and the clubs are spending a huge amount of money. And then, in this moment, you have games like this! The other teams, players laugh about it. The referees, in this moment, how they are reacting, how they are running around on the stage...I think they make themselves fools. Make it very clear; this is not acceptable! Investigate it immediately if you want to have a fair development and fair progress in the NFD. I hope you will hear it and do something. It doesn't matter if it's PSL or SAFA, do something! And if you want to take me out for the rest of the season, do it!"
Spurs' clash against Upington finished 1-1 and they currently sit ninth on the table after seven matches.
URGENT ACTION NEEDED!!
— Cape Town Spurs FC (@CapeTownSpursFC) October 22, 2024
Officiating in sports is a legitimate career that demands respect and professionalism. No one would tolerate the current working conditions they face. It's imperative that our leaders take decisive action before it's too late! pic.twitter.com/7XOEAygKX4
