Comitis slams 'bungling' refs
2008-08-27 11:31
Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town boss John Comitis is incensed about what he sees as incompetent refereeing decisions that severely impaired the Urban Warriors' progress in the lucrative MTN8 competition.
Comitis' anger hinges on referee Lwandile Mfiki's booking and subsequent sending off of Ajax's new signing Nhlanhla Kubheka.
Kubheka, Nhlanhla Shabalala and Franklin Cale had already been booked earlier in the game.
When another incident took place Mfiki then booked Shabalala and sent him off, whereas the foul was actually committed by Cale (who should have received the red card).
The PSL have since moved to state that Cale will be suspended and not Shabalala, as he should have been sent-off.
The result of the PSL's decision now means Cale will miss Ajax's opening league match against Maritzburg United on Wednesday.
'Recourse'
Comitis said that the ref's "bungling" and the League's subsequent decision is more than upsetting as they will now be without Cale on Wednesday.
"The left winger has been part of our plans for Wednesday throughout our preparations this entire week. This puts us at a serious disadvantage and I am now looking at going the legal route to get recourse as the ref's actions have robbed us of the potential to progress further in the MTN8 competition, possibly even winning it."
Comitis is also smarting over what he terms a "legitimate" goal scored by Nathan Paulse against neighbouring Santos being disallowed by middleman Robert Sithole in the previous campaign.
"The situation is becoming a circus. How can we be denied fair play by negligence on the part of referees? What are Safa doing to improve the performance of their men so that they can do a professional job on the field?"
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