Maritzburg coach believes he would be fined big time if he spoke on the penalty.
Maritzburg United coach Fadlu Davids has joined Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler and AmaZulu’s Romain Folz in calling for the VAR technology to help referees correct their mistakes.
Davids said if he spoke his mind about the performance of Xola Sitela, who was in charge when his side lost to Kaizer Chiefs, he would receive a hefty fine.
The former Pirates co-head coach felt hard done by Sitela, who awarded Chiefs a penalty late in the game, after what appeared to be minimal contact from defender Mogamad De Goede on his former Stellenbosch FC teammate.
Davids, who had stated in the heat of the moment after the match on tv cameras that the referee might be a Chiefs supporter, opted to say less in his post- match press conference.
“I’m going to get a fine, guys. I think the less I say about it, the better,” said Davids.
“I think everybody has seen it, we need VAR. We cannot [go on like this]. I think the AmaZulu coach spoke about it before and if you can look at those replays…as journalists you must go a little deeper and as coaches we are not just saying things.”
After the Team of Choice fought back from two goals down to draw the numbers level in the first half, the score was locked at 2-2.
“To lose the game like this, it’s just not fair,” Davids added, as this loss was the fourth on the bounce.
“It’s not fair for the players for the hard work they put in. But I have to lift their heads, to say take this performance, take this fight against all odds.
“When I joined [the club in November] we were bottom of the log with one game more than everyone else, small steps have been taken.
“With seven games to go, let’s push, let’s have this performance going forward.
There are going to be things that are going to go against you, there are going to be forces that are trying [to make things hard for you], let’s try and stick to the plan, stick to the task, every match has three points to play for.
“If we continue in that way and leave external factors outside, we’ll get out of this.”
Maritzburg, who are second from bottom with 21 points after 23 matches, will look to end their seven game winless streak when they visit the team in April.