On Saturday, Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of match officials in their 1-0 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns. After the final whistle, Riveiro was seen having a go at the officials, led by Masixole Bambiso, seemingly unhappy with certain aspects of their refereeing decisions.
“It was an emotional game, Pirates made mistakes, Sundowns made mistakes and somebody else as well I guess,” Riveiro said in a press conference. He went on to say that being a referee is a difficult job and that they must be prepared for big games.
Riveiro was then asked whether having a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system would help improve refereeing decisions. He argued that the issue has to do with fair play and not necessarily the applications of rules.
“It’s not only (to) apply the rules, it’s much more than that, it’s to understand what the other team is doing, what the other team is trying to do, to counteract and then try to be fair,” he said. He also noted that there were things in refereeing which were very easy.
José RiveiroOnceAlways ☠️ pic.twitter.com/CpahAvqomL
— Tsebo Edgar (@edgar_tsebo) February 7, 2023
