Football refs under fire

NAMIBIAN referees once again came under fire from coaches in the Namibia Premier League, largely due to their inexperience and dubious decisions when handling matches.

Coaches at the weekend argued that constant mistakes by the referees cost their teams valuable points. The match between Civics and Orlando Pirates highlighted the poor state of refereeing when the man in the middle, Ben Nashenda, came under fire for his lack of experience in handling top-notch matches.Civics won the ill-tempered match played at the Sam Nujoma Stadium 2-1 on Saturday.A furious Pirates coach, Brian Isaacs, blasted Nashenda after the match, saying that his decisions were questionable in many instances and cost his team dearly.Isaacs accused Nashenda of being under the influence of alcohol during the match, while he also blasted reporters for not doing their job in reporting on the poor decisions made by referees.”It is because of you guys not reporting on these things that the standard of football is so pathetic,” he said.Isaacs, generally a cool mentor who accepts defeat, was fuming with anger after the match and also threatened other match officials with strong language, while one of his players, Richard Biwa, vowed to attack the referee, but was refrained by his team mates.The Civics/ Pirates match saw three players sent off in a fixture that was briefly brought to a halt after a scuffle erupted between the players.Security personnel had to calm the situation.There was also mayhem at the western end of the stadium after the match, as security personnel clashed with some apparent Pirates supporters, who threatened to beat up the referee.In another match on the same evening, Ramblers coach Tollie van Wyk was not happy with the sending-off of one of his key players, Ninja Karongee, for apparently using abusive language against referee Piet Eksteen.Ramblers were up against Eleven Arrows and won 4-3 through a last-minute goal by Michael Pienaar.Ramblers were also unfortunate to have conceded a goal after a clear offside from the Arrows forwards which went unnoticed.Van Wyk said the referees and their assistants were a shame to Namibian football and “they (referees) don’t realise how much money teams invest in players in their quest to win championships like the league”.He was also not happy with an assistant referee who he claimed was having constant discussions with Eleven Arrows officials while doing his duties.Tigers official Kumi Uumati was asked to leave the bench after repeatedly swearing at an assistant referee who he believed was disadvantaging his team by catching them offside on numerous occasions.Tigers lost 2-1 to Blue Waters at the same venue.Uumati said some assistant referees did not apply the offside rule correctly and this result in teams losing out on possible goals.Chairman of the Central Referees Committee (CRC) Boy-Boy Ndjadila responded that the referees available in a certain area were the ones assigned to the matches.He said the Namibia Premier League (NPL) was interfering with their job, as the NPL wanted to pick referees for certain matches.He said the NPL had also complained about costs when the CRC wanted to bring in referees from other towns.He said the money was available through the football sponsorship deal, and he could not understand why it was not viable for them to bring in other referees.He said the committee had a policy of assigning referees and assistants who they believe are capable enough for handling matches, irrespective of whether they are high profile or not.”When we appoint them to handle matches, it means that we have confidence in them.It does not matter whether they are drunk or not, as long as they can do the job at hand,” he said.He said referees and their assistants could only be tested by the Doping Committee of the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) if the Namibia Football Association (NFA) requested it to do so.He said players could also be tested.NPL administrator Tovey //Hoebeb at the weekend insisted that traffic police should test the blood-alcohol level of referee Nashenda and his assistants after the match, but they refused, saying that they were not answerable to the traffic cops or the NPL, but only the CRC.//Hoebeb said although it was not standard practice, the situation warranted such action because the allegations were made by players and officials of both teams.The match between Civics and Orlando Pirates highlighted the poor state of refereeing when the man in the middle, Ben Nashenda, came under fire for his lack of experience in handling top-notch matches.Civics won the ill-tempered match played at the Sam Nujoma Stadium 2-1 on Saturday.A furious Pirates coach, Brian Isaacs, blasted Nashenda after the match, saying that his decisions were questionable in many instances and cost his team dearly.Isaacs accused Nashenda of being under the influence of alcohol during the match, while he also blasted reporters for not doing their job in reporting on the poor decisions made by referees.”It is because of you guys not reporting on these things that the standard of football is so pathetic,” he said.Isaacs, generally a cool mentor who accepts defeat, was fuming with anger after the match and also threatened other match officials with strong language, while one of his players, Richard Biwa, vowed to attack the referee, but was refrained by his team mates.The Civics/ Pirates match saw three players sent off in a fixture that was briefly brought to a halt after a scuffle erupted between the players.Security personnel had to calm the situation.There was also mayhem at the western end of the stadium after the match, as security personnel clashed with some apparent Pirates supporters, who threatened to beat up the referee.In another match on the same evening, Ramblers coach Tollie van Wyk was not happy with the sending-off of one of his key players, Ninja Karongee, for apparently using abusive language against referee Piet Eksteen.Ramblers were up against Eleven Arrows and won 4-3 through a last-minute goal by Michael Pienaar.Ramblers were also unfortunate to have conceded a goal after a clear offside from the Arrows forwards which went unnoticed.Van Wyk said the referees and their assistants were a shame to Namibian football and “they (referees) don’t realise how much money teams invest in players in their quest to win championships like the league”.He was also not happy with an assistant referee who he claimed was having constant discussions with Eleven Arrows officials while doing his duties.Tigers official Kumi Uumati was asked to leave the bench after repeatedly swearing at an assistant referee who he believed was disadvantaging his team by catching them offside on numerous occasions.Tigers lost 2-1 to Blue Waters at the same venue.Uumati said some assistant referees did not apply the offside rule correctly and this result in teams losing out on possible goals.Chairman of the Central Referees Committee (CRC) Boy-Boy Ndjadila responded that the referees available in a certain area were the ones assigned to the matches.He said the Namibia Premier League (NPL) was interfering with their job, as the NPL wanted to pick referees for certain matches.He said the NPL had also complained about costs when the CRC wanted to bring in referees from other towns.He said the money was available through the football sponsorship deal, and he could not understand why it was not viable for them to bring in other referees. He said the committee had a policy of assigning referees and assistants who they believe are capable enough for handling matches, irrespective of whether they are high profile or not.”When we appoint them to handle matches, it means that we have confidence in them.It does not matter whether they are drunk or not, as long as they can do the job at hand,” he said.He said referees and their assistants could only be tested by the Doping Committee of the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) if the Namibia Football Association (NFA) requested it to do so.He said players could also be tested.NPL administrator Tovey //Hoebeb at the weekend insisted that traffic police should test the blood-alcohol level of referee Nashenda and his assistants after the match, but they refused, saying that they were not answerable to the traffic cops or the NPL, but only the CRC.//Hoebeb said although it was not standard practice, the situation warranted such action because the allegations were made by players and officials of both teams.