One of South Africa’s trusted referees Abongile Tom is going through a rough patch after committing more costly errors in the CAF Champions League match between Zimbabwe’s Scottland FC and Angola’s Petro de Luanda.
Tom would have wanted to move on quickly from the controversy that surrounded the MTN8 final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, after his two decisive penalty decisions were questioned by supporters and subsequently former referees, giving their expert opinion after the Tshwane giants won 2-0 at Moses Mabhida Stadium just over a week ago.
The 34-year-old was again in the centre of controversy for two key decisions that influenced the outcome of the match between Zimbabwean side Scottland and Petro de Luanda of Angola.
In a match where the home side triumphed with a 2-0 scoreline, the South African referee surprisingly gave Petro goalkeeper Hugo Marques a straight red card barely a minute into the second preliminary round, first-leg encounter at National Sports Stadium in Harare.
Marques committed a foul just outside the box, bringing down one of the opposition attackers after coming out of his goal, and Tom judged that he was the last defender and gave him a straight red for DOGSO (denying of goal-scoring opportunity). However, replays showed that the former Cape Town City man had cover, with a few of his defenders having recovered by the time he made the tackle.
The situation got worse, from Tom’s perspective, after Petro’s substitute goalkeeper handled a through ball with his hands well outside the box and the SA referee did not act upon it, to the shock of commentators and home supporters.
The Tricolors, playing with 10 men, eventually conceded midway into the second stanza after Khama Billiat broke the deadlock.
Knowledge Musona then hammered the final nail in the coffin, netting the second goal 10 minutes before time.
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