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REFS IN OVER E700K COSAFA BOUNTY

23/06/2024 07:29:00 Sanele Jele

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MBABANE – Three local match officials are poised for a windfall during the upcoming Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup.

The Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) has unveiled the roster of match officials who will oversee the Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup 2024. The tournament annual will witness the participation of 36 match officials scheduled from June 26 to July 7. Eswatini will face Botswana in the opening match of the tournament at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Wednesday, with kick-off scheduled for 3pm. Sihlangu, departing with a 25-man squad, is slated to compete against Mozambique on June 29, and on July 2, they will confront South Africa in their final Group A match.

COSAFA has officially disclosed the appointment of 12 referees, 10 assistant referees, and 14 video assistant referees (VAR) for the 23rd edition of the tournament. Among the 36 officials, three will hail from Eswatini, namely Thulani Sibandze as the referee, Zamani Simelane as the assistant referee and Letticia Viana as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR)/assistant referees.According to a reliable source within COSAFA, each match official is set to receive E20 000, with VAR officials expected to earn a higher amount. The source further emphasised that, regardless of the role as a referee or assistant, the compensation remains the same. However, the source indicated that the remuneration for video assistant referees will slightly exceed E20 000.

This implies that COSAFA is projected to expend a total of E720 000 for the 36 officials. Notably, with Eswatini contributing three officials, they are poised to benefit from over E60 000 out of the total sum exceeding E0.7 million. It is worth noting that the champion will receive a prize less than the amount allocated for the match officials, which stands at E500 000.
COSAFA’s Media Manager Lynda Greef, declined to discuss the financial details concerning the match officials. The media manager directed this reporter to the latest media press release, which contained the list of referees earmarked for this year’s edition.

Benefit

Efforts to reach Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Marketing and Communications officer Muzi Radebe for immediate comment were unsuccessful. While Eswatini’s referees are set to benefit significantly from the international tournament, their compensation for domestic matches stands at E400 per game, amounting to E1 600 per month if each match official will officiate four games monthly. In contrast, during the COSAFA Cup, referees typically officiate a minimum of four games and receive compensation exceeding E20 000.According to the COSAFA press release, the match officials participating in the Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup 2024 from June 26 to July 7 have undergone rigorous training in Johannesburg over the past few days, including the match officials responsible for managing the VAR system.

The VAR system will be implemented from the semi-finals onwards in Gqeberha, serving as a training tool for the entire competition, with all matches featuring officials working behind the scenes to enhance their proficiency with the system in preparation for live implementation. This initiative includes the participation of match officials from across the continent, spanning from the northern to the southern regions, which will leverage this invaluable opportunity to advance their expertise in the system, as FIFA and CAF increasingly rely on technology.

Match officials who are not adept with VAR risk being left behind in major continental and global events in the future. “I will speak emphatically about our VAR project as COSAFA,” expressed COSAFA Referees Manager Felix Tangawarima. “Now that we have received our equipment from CAF, we aim to have every Member Association within COSAFA equipped with VAR-certified referees, ensuring that our prospects for CAF and FIFA appointments remain unaffected. “Currently, we are facing challenges due to the limited number of certified referees, resulting in our match officials being overlooked for significant games in CAF and FIFA events. Our objective is to bridge the gap between certified and non-certified referees. As COSAFA, we have made significant strides and are possibly the sole zone on the continent consistently pursuing this endeavour annually.

“This year, three of our tournaments will feature VAR, potentially surpassing CAF’s implementation. This project will profoundly impact match officials in the southern African region. The investment made by the COSAFA secretariat in this project is substantial, and we are committed to ensuring it yields significant returns. We aim to establish ourselves as the leading zone for VAR in Africa.” The match officials are currently undergoing intensive training in Soweto, South Africa.