The two assistant referees who officiated during the SAFA Vhembe SAB league match between Berea FC and Madombidzha Young Dolphins a fortnight ago at the Zwigodini grounds were allegedly assaulted.

According to the coach of Berea FC, Mr Richard Mambeda, his team was leading 2-0 when the referee awarded them a penalty. After the referee pointed at the white spot, the supporters of Young Dolphins stormed onto the pitch to protest to the assistant referee and accused him of being biased.

During the chaos, the officials of the Dolphins tried to calm the situa-tion by requesting their supporters to leave the pitch. After the incident, the match continued and Berea scored the penalty to make the score 3-0. With 20 minutes left in the game, the supporters of the visiting team allegedly tried to assault the two assistant referees. The officials and players of the home team protected the two until they managed to escape via a police van that was parked near the grounds.

The SAFA Vhembe SAB league co-ordinator, Adv Piet Sikhwivhilu, said that he was still waiting for reports from both teams and the two assistant referees. “If we get these reports, the team will appear before a discipli-nary hearing,” said Sikhwivhilu.

Masisi SAPS spokesperson Inspector Takalani Segebe confirmed that an official of the team and one of the assistants who was assaulted, Vusani Matamela, agreed to an out-of-court settlement, stating that the team official would pay for the damages. According to Vusani, the supporters of the visiting team beat him and took his R300 match fee. “We agreed with the official that they have to pay the R300 as well as a further R200 for consulting a doctor and R250 for fixing my T-shirt,” he said.

One of Young Dolphins’ supporters alleges that the match official approached them to pay a bribe, should they want to win the match. When they refused to pay the bribe, the match official became one-sided in his rulings. He appealed to the league officials to visit the match each and every time so they could witness the referee’s in-competence.

In October last year, the referee who was officiating in the match between Lufule United Artists and Maniini All Blacks, Mr Mpafriseni Musekwa, was assaulted and doused with liquor. His car was also smashed by a United Artists official. Artists appeared before a DC last week and they were fined R7 500 and R2 500 on the charges. The official, Mr Thina Netshituni, was also suspended for two years. In November last year, another referee, Mr Joseph Raphadana, was assaulted by the coach of Dopeni Mighty Comrades before the match between Mighty Comrades and Jerome River Banks. The Dopeni coach, Rudzani Munzhedzi, was fined R500 by the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court.

In a separate incident that occurred at the Makhitha grounds on Saturday, the assistant referee, Mr Naledzani Ndouvhadi, was allegedly assaulted by the match official from Berea FC. Makhita Yellow Birds were leading the match 3-2, with some eight minutes still left on the clock when the incident occurred. The official from Berea allegedly accused the assistant referee of being biased.