During the dying minutes of the Nedbank Cup semi-final, Kaizer Chiefs forward Ashley Du Preez put the visitors 2-1 up, securing their first final appearance in six years.
Although the goal stood, replays show the former Maroon striker idling offside, making Mamelodi Sundowns the victim of South African soccer’s reluctance to adopt modern technology: VAR.
Words from a former ref
Former FIFA referee Ace Ncobo confirmed Du Preez’s positioning, saying, “So, when we work in a country that doesn’t have VAR, that’s what happens. Just go back and look at the images. You have the images, get the images from the TV, and there is a team that loses this competition due to mistakes from the referee.
“The distance between the striker and the goal line is 10.4 cm. The distance between the defender and the goal line is 10.9 m. Who is closer? The one with 10.4 m – the striker is closer to that goal line than the second-last defender, and that’s all that matters,” Ncobo explained.
“The assistant referee is human; he was caught for pace. His football mind told him that the defenders would kick that ball out. So, that’s why he was just half a meter away from the offside line. That was offside. It should have been picked up as an offside. It was not a legitimate goal; it was given as a goal incorrectly.”
“The assistant referee is human; he was caught for pace. His football mind told him that the defenders would kick that ball out. So, that’s why he was just half a meter away from the offside line. That was offside. It should have been picked up as an offside. It was not a legitimate goal; it was given as a goal incorrectly.”
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