Under-performing referees face the chop
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Friday August 11, 2017 17:11
Olopeng said starting this season, action will be taken against referees whose performances are not up to the required standard.
He said the referees will be given leave if they are seen to have performed below par. “We will give leave for two or three games so that they can take their job seriously,” Olopeng told Mmegi Sport.
He said another change they have introduced is that referees should avail a match report within 24 hours after the match or they will not be assigned for the next games.
He said as a way of trying to improve the standard of refereeing in the country, they will have to abide by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA requirements.
However, he said he was happy with the standard of refereeing last season.
“There was a lot of improvement. It is not enough but it was satisfactory. There were no controversies in our league last season and we will keep on improving every season,” he said.
Olopeng said the referees have started their training sessions across the country with some of them already involved in pre-season tournaments.
“The only thing that is left behind is the fitness test. We should have done it by now. The tests are done in two phases, one at the start of the season and another at the end.”
Another change ahead of the start of the league is that for the first time, there will be referee assessors at the First Division Leagues.
Only the referees in the Premier League were assessed in the past. Olopeng said the change was necessitated by the fact they trained a lot of assessors last year.
He said their practical work will start in the lower division this season.
He said another challenge remaining is the low number of women referees, but said they are doing everything to change that.
Meanwhile, Olopeng admitted that referees are still owed some wages from last season but expressed hope that the arrears will be settled before the start of the season.