PSL referees head for bootcamp amid growing criticism

This assessment naturally takes place earlier in the season and, with the 2022/23 campaign having just seven matches remaining, is a bit delayed.

Former international match official, and now SABC Sport’s resident referee analyst, Victor Hlungwani outlines the purpose of the camp. 

"Every midseason there's a workshop for referees. This year it was supposed to happen in January but remember we had the FIFA World Cup so the fixtures were congested. So, they're only going to get a chance during the FIFA break whereby all referees come together to correct mistakes of the first half of the season," he said.

With the PSL still seemingly a long way away from implementing the video assistant referee (VAR) technology, match officials have been under pressure.

Hlungwani adds that experienced heads – among them Jerome Damon, Enoch Molefe and Abdul Ebrahim, who the SAFA referees boss – will be monitoring the group. 

"Jerome Damon is there, Enoch Molefe is there, Abdul is an instructor as well so they're the ones looking at the mistakes. It needs people who have seen those mistakes, who have observed them. Who have observed us analysing them from Soccerzone to say these are the mistakes happening within the refereeing fraternity, how do we help our referees to improve for a better second round," he added.

The match officials that have recently been suspended as punishment for their blunders will also be part of the bootcamp. 

"Everyone is in the workshop, if you are a referee in the national panel whether suspended or not, you must be in there. So, that you get the knowledge from the technical instructors," he concluded.