Innovative solutions needed for referees in the PSL

Week-in, week-out, we, the United Social Networkers of the nation, are bombarded with a stream of tweets and status updates loaded with abusive, insulting and offensive language (referees know I am referring to Law 12) directed at the Premier Soccer League's referees.

On Saturday, we saw some of this oft-seen abusive language we read on our smart-phones turn into actual physical abuse in the match between Golden Arrows and table-toppers Kaizer Chiefs. A Chiefs supporter ran more than a hundred meters into the field and hit referee, Lwandile Mfiki, with the infamous vuvuzela.  The fan's distress seemed to have been caused by Mfiki's decision to give Chief's midfield kingpin, Reneilwe “Yeye” Letsholonyane a red card in the 33^rd minute.

This type of behaviour is embarrassing almost serves to emphasize the notion that our PSL is indeed “a joke” (as a classmate recently stated in a class discussion).

If the standard of refereeing is a problem and looks amateurish, then why is it that we, errrm, still have amateur referees?  And I mean amateur in the literal sense. This is because a lot of referees have normal day jobs outside of their duties with the whistle.

Being a referee myself (at youth level), I know how demanding it can be to stay in shape and be up to date with the laws. Life of a referee isn't easy, and even when you plan for things and study time, life happens.  It is extremely difficult.  But that's my simple, limited view, as an amateur.But I am getting sidetracked.  I believe it is time to start talking about solutions instead of merely complaining.

Many have provided their own solutions to the problem on twitter and I hope many more will offer their ideas on how we can deal with referee issues in PSL.  Some will say refs should be banned or dropped to lower divisions, other will say refs should have their salaries cut, and the less-logical among us will say that we should moer them with a vuvuzela for costly mistakes.

I just cant help but wonder if some of that Q-Innovation money could have been diverted to one aspect that directly contributes to the enjoyment of the game by fans - refereeing.  We currently have a tight title-finish coming up and instead of discussions revolving around the actual football being played, discussions mainly revolved around the referee, offside decisions and the like.  Television pundits are probably becoming more accustomed with the FIFA Laws of the Game than tactical innovations in football.

The Q-Innovation idea was supposed to generate excitement and I presume, attract even more fans to the PSL games.  It was supposed to make every game important and keep supporters interested.  I am not a fan of the idea (as usual, I put my feelings in words).  Why was the extra R6 million (R1.5 million multiplied by four) not rather redirected to improving referees or specifically, their salaries?

The powers that be were more than ready to “innovate” and introduce quarterly prizes in the league.  Why weren't “innovative” methods introduced to not improve referees performance, and more specifically, their salaries?  This could gradually evolve to having a full-time panel of dedicated referees.  Becoming a member of the PSL referees panel could eventually end up being viewed as “hitting the big-time” for qualified referees.  With a lot more money to lose for poor performance, this could also have the positive effect of increasing accountability should they be dropped to lower levels.

At the moment, the PSL does not even have a review system in place to look at poor decision made in games.  So, shocking decisions that may arise are not even corrected. In the recent case, Stuart Baxter will just have to accept the suspension of his key player and get on with it/f*** off (delete as appropriate, hehehe).

With five or so games remaining in the league for most teams.  What impact will referees have on who wins the title and who get relegated?  Will the poor referees receive better pay next season?  Will the likes of Mfiki be suspended in the coming weeks and months?  Do we have better referees waiting in the lower divisions?

I do not claim to know all the answers but I am pretty certain that the PSL now needs a solution.  An intervention of some sorts...   An innovation!

I only have one “Q” to ask, when will the men in charge introduce some sort of R-Innovation?

Thomas Monyepao

Please make use of T-Innovation and follow me on twitter @Tom_18Yards.

5 factors contributing to the rise of Amakhosi

With Kaizer Chiefs now seven points clear at the top, here is a list of five factors that have contributed to Chiefs topping the table with seven games to go.

1. Unbeaten at home

Amakhosi have simply been ruthless at home. They have not lost a single match at home. Added to that, their away record has improved compared to last season. Last season at this stage they only won 3 out of 12 matches away from home. This season they have already won 6 out of 11 away games including the 3-0 thrashing of Bloemfontein Celtic this past Sunday.

2. Taking the lead and keeping it

Chiefs have only won once from a losing position (against Free State Stars at home). When in the lead, the Glamour boys have only thrown away 4 point all season from a winning position. While this may point to a lack of fighting spirit for some, one thing it does confirm is that Chiefs know how to sniff and then grab hold of the three points, and then take the points safely home no matter what the opposition may do.

Let us also not forget that from a losing position they managed to take 2 points away from rivals Orlando Pirates while simultaneously gaining an important point in the first derby of the season. It is safe to say that Chiefs do indeed “have Balz”.

3. Change of tactics from Baxter

Many may think I will be highlighting the use of an adaptable 5-3-2 (3-5-2) formation from Baxter as a bit of tactical genius. However, the most important decision by Baxter was to simply change from what looked liked a 4-3-3 with the interchangeable three of Josta Dladla, Reneilwe “Yeye” Letsholonyane (in a deep midfield role), and Siyabonga Nkosi, to the more commonly used 4-3-3 (and other adaptations) that has Williard “Salt 'n Pepper” Katsande playing the role that Tinashe Nengomasha made his own as a “destroyer”, thereby allowing Yeye more freedom to attack. This has allowed soccer fans the opportunity to enjoy Yeye at his creative best - distributing balls all over the pitch to allow Bernard Parker and co an opportunity to knock the ball into the Auld Onion Bag.

In August, I wrote that Chiefs may rue letting Nengomasha go as I felt Katsande had not show enough consistency to fill his countryman's big shoes. I also felt that Lucky Baloyi was also not ready to play big role in a title-challenging team Fortunately for Amakhosi, “Salt 'n Pepper” Katsande showed massive improvement and his contribution has been immense ever since he became regular this season.

4. “Major” strikeforce

When you have the luxury of bringing on a Bafana Bafana striker on as an impact player, you have a quite an advantage over other teams.

With a strikeforce containing the likes of Bernard Parker, Kingston Nkhatha, and Lehlohonolo “Major” Majoro to choose from, Chiefs coach, Stuart Baxter, has been spoilt for choice as the three players have not only been consistent in their performance - contributing over 20 goals - but they have also avoided any serious injuries.

Contrast this to Pirates where Bafana legend Benni McCarthy has remained sidelined for most of the season, Takesure Chinyama has only scored twice in the league, Collins Mbesuma is a shadow of the player he was for Chiefs back in 2005, and Ndumiso Mabena... The mere mention of THAT miss in the Telkom Knockout Cup match against Celtic probably still gives coach Roger De Sa nightmares!

5. Injuries

Key players at Pirates including Rooi Mahamutsa, goalscoring centreback Siyabonga Sangweni, the experienced Benni McCarthy, Moneeb Josephs and Sifiso “Myessi” Myeni have all suffered bad injuries during the season which has contributed to the below-par performances.

As I mentioned earlier, Chiefs have had a strikeforce that, fortunately for them, avoided any serious injury problems. While in defence, their number one in between the poles, Itumeleng Khune, has remained injury-free while new signing Morgan Gould was the only senior player to get a long-term injury. Midfield kingpin, “Yeye” Letsholonyane, as a creative force, has played a big part in the title challenge while Pirates have lost their biggest creative force “Myessi” to injury at an important stage of the season.

So, while both teams have had their share of injury problems, Pirates were hit hardest with the loss of key men like McCarthy and Mahamusta for most of the season.

Conclusion

There are of course other factors that may have contributed to Chiefs currently topping the PSL table (and no, the use of brown envelopes is not what I was thinking).

However, with seven games of the season remaining, the title is not yet wrapped up and we may still witness some drama in the run-in.

Let's hope we will have a relatively tight finish(and maybe even see Pirates snatching it late) instead of a situation where Chiefs simply walk away with the title. That is, of course, unless some of you actually take the Q-Innovation table seriously.

Thomas Monyepao

Do follow me on twitter. The name is @Tom_18Yards.

Time to invest in women's football

South Africa is a great country. We have democratic elections every five years without major issues. We have successfully hosted the biggest sport events on planet Earth and whites and blacks are coming together as one unified rainbow nation. It is not a rare site to see members of a rugby union attending a soccer match or to see a soccer team attending a cricket match. We are moving away from old views and old terms such as “white sports” and “black sports”. In South Africa black, white, minority and pink groups are all moving forward in one direction.


Well...at least that is what some would have you believe.


As I mentioned earlier, it appears there is a proactive effort from franchises and clubs in South Africa's “big three sports” to publicly show their support for each other, thereby breaking down racial barriers and previously held views of the people involved in the sports, etcetera and so on. A soccer example is Kaizer Chiefs Football Club recently starting a Sevens rugby team (I wrote a humourous piece about #ChiefsRugby too).


This is a very good initiative in my opinion. This move allows the club to diversify and generate higher revenue through the sale of rugby replica jerseys and has the possibility of attracting even more lucrative sponsorships contracts. The launch will also increase brand awareness and improve the brand image to most South Africans as a club willing break barriers and embrace the South Africa.

"We are bridging the gap and taking the brand further,” said the beautiful marketing director Jessica Motaung following the launch.


When one takes a look at the history of local football, one cant help but be proud to see how far a previously disadvantaged soccer club has progressed from the dusty soccer fields in Soweto the plush rugby fields in George. But I can't help but notice “the gap” that there is still very real gap in our country for another previously – in my opinion, still – disadvantaged group. I am referring to the women in our football.


It is interesting to note that Chiefs - a large, and powerful South African soccer institution - made a move to “diversify” by moving into rugby instead of (or before) investing time and resources into forming a female football team to compete in the SASOL Women's league first.


In the times we live in, there is plenty of rhetoric regarding the empowerment of women and equalization of opportunities as far as gender goes. I am bit surprised that a club that has a woman in a powerful position decided to invest in a different sporting code without having a female football team barely a year after the female national soccer team (Banyana Banyana) were the only soccer representatives at the London Olympics. The same Banyana team finished as runners-up in continental championships too. The same Banyana players struggle to get decent competition in local leagues due to individual and powerful groups' failure to invest in and build women's football at faster pace.


Do we need women's football to sink to the levels of Bafana Bafana before we have a serious concerted effort for all role players to contribute in any way they can?


It is now 2013 and although there is a greater public appreciation for the need for development structures for Bafana to succeed, not much is being done in that aspect. How much longer will it take for development of the women's game to take effect? Big companies are not exactly falling over themselves to inject funding into the women's game. Government, more specifically our current sport minister, Mr Fikile Mbalula, have not constantly been on TV raising the issue of the development of the women's game. Surprisingly, even female supporters of the game have not been very candid about the lack of female teams for their respective favourite clubs.


I can't help but wish at the boardroom meeting whereby it was decided to form a rugby team that Kaizer Motaung had whispered similar words of advice to his child as he claims his father to him when he wanted to form Kaizer Chiefs:


“You know what, I think you should go ahead with your plans to form this team because I am also sick and tired of all these problems...”


The lack of effort into the women's game is frustrating, even as a man. For example, in celebration of August being Women’s month, the Chiefs marketing team put together an entertainment line-up that “pays tribute to the women of South Africa”, which included a curtain raiser featuring the Kaizer Chiefs Female Celebrity Team. Hmmm... Notice the irony.


In the current environment, the team that I support, Moroka Swallows, deserve a pat on the back for at least having a female team. But even they seem to be focused on the men's side of the game. The picture on the right of what I found on their revamped website shows just how seriously the women's game is being taken.

Click to enlarge

Before you unleash hell's fire on me in the comments section, please take note that the aim of this piece is not to attack Kaizer Chiefs, Moroka Swallows or any other person/group. The aim is to alert people to the fact that women's football has no chance of succeeding if those within football circles do not bother to give it the attention and effort it deserves.


There are many issues that need to be tackled to take women's football to another level.


My plea is for all professional teams to have a female team competing in the women's leagues.


My very basic recommendation to those in power is for legislation to require football clubs to have a female football team as part of the requirement to receive their PSL grant. If legislation backs up rhetoric, we will finally see action.


To use Jessica Motaung's words, it is now time to “bridge the gap” between men's and women's football.


Thomas Monyepao

Please follow me on twitter @Tom_18Yards

We don't care about Jali. We care about Bafana.

Like the situation when a naughty child does not act in the expected manner and is then sent into the naughty corner, national team coach Gordon Igesund (otherwise known as GI) has sent Orlando Pirates midfield general, Andile Jali, into the Bafana Bafana wilderness.

 

The naughty child has been sent into a dark corner to think about his transgressions and his acts of disobedience. This has been quite a lengthy punishment. The child is not wailing for attention but the silence is deafening from both parent and child. Nobody seems to know how long this punishment will last. Some of the Pirates fans neighbours seem to feel the punishment is too harsh and suspicions of abuse are abound. The bystanders (Swallows fans, like myself) are merely concerned with a positive end to the story and the growth and development of the child. It appears that SAFA the social services department has been alerted to the situation but feel the parent is handling the situation well. The other obedient children of the Bafana family have – like obedient kids should behave – not voiced their concerns, maybe for fear of similar punishment. Even the prodigal son, Benni McCarthy, has kept his mouth quiet, appearing to have learnt from a previous experience with his broer Moneeb Josephs.

To bring things back to the football field, one thing that cannot be denied is the fact that Andile Jali is one of the best players in the Premier Soccer League. He has been an instrumental part of the treble-winning Pirates sides (as my fellow Bucs tweeps keep reminding us all) and still, potentially, has plenty of years available to play for the national squad and maybe abroad. How
ever, his arrogance and, ahem, “inappropriate” behaviour off the field seems to have soured the relationship with the current Bafana Bafana head coach resulting in the player still being overlooked for the forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Central African Republic.


Jali has been consistently overlooked by Igesund for Bafana matches, which most of the public see as a form of punishment for quotes such as the following quote found in an interview in the Soccerladuma newspaper in October 2012:


“I care about my team where i get paid every month. I work for my team and I don't work for the national team”

In this particular interview, the words “I don't care” are repeated a number of times. The interview painted a picture of an arrogant, stubborn man and could have – and probably was – viewed as disrespectful by Igesund and his assistants. To the average soccer fan, the interview painted a picture of a player who he would be doing the national or the national coach a favour by playing for Bafana - like it was a privilege to have Andile Jali in your team (well, at least that's how I took it).

The only person in SA football who knows the truth is Andile Jali. He has been punished, and punished for quite a long time. But I believe it is now time that our father who art in Nasrec forgive Andile, the same way that he was willing to forgive (and have coffee) with Steven. It is time for Ntate Igesund to reach out his hand, show the young boy the way forward, whisper sweet nothings while singing the comforting words that he is “once, twice, three times” a player (just to keep up with the treble theme), and move forward together as a Bafana family. We will need all hands on deck if we are to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. South Africa is already at “itchy bum” stage regarding the state of our qualification campaign.

Winning, in the end, is what the average supporter cares about. He/she does not care about punishments. He/she does not care about egos. And he/she does not care about how many kids of wedlock a particular player has. He cares about winning or about “reclaiming the glory” (hello there, Khosis). The same applies for SAFA.

Based on my knowledge of South African football, when results are not forthcoming, the coach will end up going especially when it involves the exclusion of certain fan-favourites. Whether it takes a formal apology from Jali, some initiative from Igesund, or a special intervention from SAFA (fixing relationships not fixing anything else), at this point, personally, “I don't care'. 

I care about the best local coach we have staying in job, using all the resources available and I care about seeing one of the best local talents progress and shine for Bafana.  That is what's good for Bafana.

We, the fans, don't care about the drama behind the scenes. We don't care about Jali. We simply care about Bafana Bafana.

Thomas Monyepao

Do follow me on twitter @Tom_18Yards

2013 junior football season finally begins!

 I have found myself rather busy these days due to my Honours degree studies this year.  However, soccer season finally began this weekend and it gave me an escape from the pressure of university studies.  

It was an enjoyable day for everybody, especially the little kids.  Even the refs had a good time (parents and coaches were in a very good mood).  The fun, however, was stopped by rain in the afternoon.

Have a look at a few interesting pictures of the season-opening under-10 tournament at which I was a referee on the 2nd of March 2013.

Coaches and managers being briefed about the fixtures and the tournament structure.

Organizing little kids on tournament day is a daunting task!

Boys doing a warm-up of sorts

First game about to begin

Coin-toss before the first game kicks off

 A discussion with the more experienced referees

Call me "Shuffle"

That's me kicking out dissent very early on in their young careers

I love how youth football is all about improvisation and more about simply letting everybody play the game, even if you don't have the correct kit

A goalkeeper named Lucky who was rather unlucky to be blessed with a leaky Moroka Swallows-esque defence

Yours in football

Thomas Monyepao
Do follow on twitter

AFCON ticket mess Part 1

I had planned on writing a “happy new” blog post to get the year off to the right start but thanks to EQ Tickets and the people behind the organizing of AFCON (African Cup of Nations 2013) tickets, I am not  a very happy chappy at the moment.


In my possession at this moment in time are double tickets that I have purchased for the AFCON Final, one group game, and one quarterfinal match.  One thing, however, is missing (no, not a glass of Bell’s whiskey).




What’s missing is a pair of tickets that I waited in line for two days in a row and handed over R230 for the AFCON 2013 opening game on the 19th of January.


Apparently, my cellphone number is not loaded on the system for those tickets. I can confirm this because I watched the process as the friendly Spar lady worked her magic on the computer, inputting my cell phone details and then following up with my ID number. The process ended with  ID number  NOT matching with the reference  number I had given (yes, the same reference number I see on my receipt and the same reference number I see on the text message received from the AFCON 2013 ticket organization).


After trying endlessly and even trying to substitute a “4” on my ID with “6” – hoping that maybe somebody put in the wrong details – nothing worked.


At that moment I was getting extremely irritated at the fact that a process that should have taken no more than a few minutes, now had me repeatedly telling the Spar lady my ID number and cell number and repeatedly ending up being unsuccessful in obtaining the match tickets for which I have already paid for into my hands. To rub salt into the wound, I was probably one of the first people to purchase tickets as I paid for these items on the 27^th September 2012 (see picture below for confirmation).


By the way, I only purchased my tickets on the second day after tickets officially went on sale purely because the system “jammed” on the first day as we the supporters stood in line for hours for no ultimate gain.

Anyways, back to the story, I then proceeded to call the EQ Tickets AFCON 2013 call centre – I saw this number on the largely useless (to fans who run into trouble) EQ Tickets website.  I unfortunately ran out of the remaining airtime credit I had before somebody at EQ Tickts could answer. I wasted money simply holding, and holding, and holding and… well, you get the point by now.


I then purchased R29 airtime, specifically to deal with this problem at hand. I was kept holding for quite a long time and eventually when somebody answered; unfortunately for me, the man on the other side could not hear me, at all. So, I called yet again and was kept holding until the little remaining airtime was done. (Time really flies when you’re angry!)


At this point, the anger inside of me was boiling over as I had gone through a series of activities that ended up wasting my time, money, and effort, all in vain, in the hope of simply obtaining information on AFCON tickets that I paid my hard-earned money for.


I then bought R110 worth of airtime (Spar must be rolling in the money if this is happening nationwide). Yet again, I was kept holding for quite a while but this time somebody finally answered, a lady by the name of Vanessa. She sounded friendly as I told her my sad story; I gave her my ID number to check for my tickets on the system, and to my shock, she said the system only has six tickets under that specific ID number (double tickets to the three matches specified earlier).  I thought to myself,  “Maybe that lady at Spar did not enter my ID number correctly. She then checked the system for tickets under my cell phone number, and inexplicably, she still only saw SIX tickets registered under my cell phone number. This made absolutely no sense to me at that moment. There is no logical way to explain how this can happen.


Think about this: If I only bought six tickets according to EQ Tickets, then why did I get a reference number sent to my cell phone number? This is the exact same reference number printed on my receipt dated 27 September  2012?  How is it that I bought all of my tickets from the same Spar store, on the same day, with (obviously) the same ID number, and same cell number yet two tickets somehow don’t appear under my name?


Vanessa proceeded to tell me that she will contact her supervisor about this “weird” situation and that I should expect a call from her supervisor.  She could not specify to me how long I would have to wait for this phone call after I asked her for his information. At the moment, the wait continues.


As I write this piece, it has been more than 48 hours since my incident and since I spent over R100 calling EQ tickets. The supervisor that “Vanessa” said would contact me, well, simply hasn’t. After waiting for more than 24 hours for this call from the mysterious supervisor, I decided to send EQ Tickets an email to the address shown on my receipt . I am yet to receive a reply or at the very least some sort of acknowledgment of my complaint.


I have also persistently used social networks to get in contact with anybody who might be connected in anyway to the powers that be at EQ tickets (thank you to the tweeps who also helped out, special mention to @sangxa and @Blackbucs).  I tagged people such as @Eqtickets_store (Eqtickets_concept), @NativeRhythms,  (Sipho Sithole), and  @eQTickets (EQTickets who as I type have a whopping 27 followers). I also tagged @robmarawa (award-winning radio and TV personality Robert Marawa) in some of my complaints so that these issues could be discussed on air on his radio show.


The less said about the 45 minutes of the show that I managed to listen to later that day (7 January), the better. The best part least frustrating part of the interview was when the interviewee replied to a question with the words, “I dont know the answer to that.”  That at least made sense, unlike the finger-pointing session that laid blame onto government and even CAF for, ahem, under-performance in certain areas. I also did not hear any reasonable justification from the interviewee for using EQ tickets and the less-accessible “selected” Spar stores.


So two days after my unsuccessful mission to My Spar I returned yet again on the 9^th of January – ten days before kickoff (somebody say Ayoba!) – foolishly hoping that my tickets would magically reappear on the system under my ID number. How foolish of me. The situation remained the same. I actually even ran into somebody else experiencing the exact same problem. This man even claims that he contacted the call centre and they assured him that the problem had been fixed after he had previously tried to collect his tickets a few days earlier without success.


Needless to say, I was not feeling so “super” as I left this Spar store.
 
One hopes that the best is yet to come.
 
Thomas Monyepao
Do follow me on twitter for more football talk and please be aware my latest blogs will appear here from now on.

Report: Moroka Swallows 2 - Platinum Stars 0

A man with a lot on his mind, Zeca Marques.

Zeca Marques relieved some of the pressure on his shoulders as Moroka Swallows defeated Platinum with a 2-0 scoreline at the Dobsonville Stadium on Wednesday evening, 19 December 2012, at Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium.

 

Goals by Bennett Chenene and Swallows’ top goal-scorer, Katlego Mashego, came at a crucial time for coach Zeca Marques whose side had not won in their eight previous matches.

Swallows now occupy 11^th spot and sit five points above last-placed AmaZulu. 

Q2 winners, Platinum Stars, meanwhile, currently occupy third place, four points behind leaders Kaizer Chiefs, and will enter 2013 still in contention for the title race.

The Birds sat back in the second half, depending largely on counter-attacks to provide a threat on their opponents goal.  The Dube Birds eventually held out for the result and provided a win that will leave their loyal supporters with something to smile about this Christmas.

Katlego Mashego seals he three points with a well-taken goal.