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Cape Town - The South African Football Association (SAFA) Referees Review Committee has come out in support of referee Victor Hlungwani on how he handled the Absa Premiership clash between Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday.
The final score at the end of 90-minutes was 2-0 in favour of Amakhosi as the Soweto giants claimed bragging rights in a top-of-the-table encounter.
While some pundits and Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane insisted that Chiefs' opening goal by Samir Nurkovic was offside, the SAFA Referees Review Committee emphatically stated the goal was legitimate and referee Hlungwani was correct in awarding the goal.
"During the match, when Kaizer Chiefs' Reeve Frosler played the ball into the opponents' penalty area, both Chiefs' Leonardo Castro and Samir Nurkovic were not in an offside position. Sundowns' Mosa Lebusa and Chiefs' Castro jumped to head the ball, but both missed it," explained the Review Committee as quoted by the official SAFA website.
"Castro neither played nor touched the ball from his team-mate, Frosler and this is evidenced by the fact that the ball never changed direction nor trajectory," added the Committee.
"Nurkovic, who was not in an offside position when the ball was initially played by Frosler and that Castro did not make contact with the ball, the assistant referee was correct in not flagging for offside, based on fact connected with Law 11 (Offside).
"It then stands to reason that Nurkovic scored a legitimate goal. It would have been a different decision had his team-mate Castro played or touched the ball, then the goal would have been disallowed in that instance," concluded the Committee's findings.
Quoting the Laws of the Game 2019/20 Edition (page 99), the Committee articulated the proceedings leading to the goal that Downs disputed.
According to Law 11 (Offside): "A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate."
- SAFA media
