Pretoria – The South African Football Association (Safa) has included two more women referees in its National Panel of Referees (NPR).
The two new referees introduced to the panel are Sebabatso Malope and Noeleen Daniels and this brings to five the number of women in the NPR.
Safa has appointed seven new match officials to the NPR after they were identified for promotion following a Higher National Certification refereeing workshop in Johannesburg recently.
The three referees and four assistant referees have been developed from the Vodacom League.
The appointment of the new referees was made during a high level FIFA refereeing course conducted last month in Johannesburg.
The refresher course covered topics on the laws of the game, law changes and other new laws. Video analysis on match situations was another section dealt with by the participants.
Three referees have retired from officiating. The trio, Faick Daniels, Abdul Basit Ebrahim and Steven Moshotle, blew their whistles for the last time last season.
Chairman of the Referees Committee, Alpha Mchunu, described the appointment of the seven new referees to the National Panel as an achievement.
“The association is achieving its goal in producing and developing high quality referees. It’s encouraging to see growth and acceleration in pace to produce quality female referees.
“Our referees are adapting and progressing with the fitness level tests set by FIFA as seen in the recent fitness tests our candidates were put through.
“We are proud of the progress made by the new referees and our long-term goal is to ensure that we have at least five female referees within the panel,” he said.
Mchunu said the commitment coming from the match officials is an indication that they are showing a high level of dedication in wanting to be the best on the continent.
“We are hoping these appointments will send a strong message to upcoming referees, that the gate is wide open,” he said. – BuaNews
