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TOP Fifa referees instructor Felix Tangawarima has hailed the calibre of referees who officiated at the just-ended Cosafa Castle Cup in Windhoek, Namibia, for a sterling job against the difficulties of having to grapple with newly amended laws of the game.

Tangawarima who is the Fifa referees instructor for Eastern and Southern Africa was in Namibia for the two-week regional jamboree, during which he was the tournament’s referees’ manager.

The seven-time Zimbabwe Referee of the Year noted that the match officials who took charge of the Cosafa Castle Cup games including two of his countrymen – Norman Matemera and Salani Ncube – had to grapple with adjusting to the new laws that came into effect on June 1, just 10 days before the competition burst into life with a Group A clash between Swaziland and Zimbabwe’s Warriors.

Tangawarima told the Namibian Press Agency that the players and coaches also had to adjust to the implementation of the amended laws.

But the spotlight naturally fell on the men in the middle – the referees – as they are the people tasked with applying the laws.

Some of these rules made a huge impact on the game, regardless of the fact that Cosafa had organised a three-day workshop prior to the tournament to prepare referees.

The workshop focused on several amended laws of the game.

In addition to the referees’ workshop, Tangawarima held a 45-minute presentation with each of the participating teams, managements and heads of delegation, taking them through the amended laws.

As he looked back at the tournament, Tangawarima revealed that every team member was in attendance and the only person who snubbed these meetings was the Botswana head coach Peter Butler who, incidentally, was the only coach to be sent off during the tourney.

Butler was however back on the touchline during the Cosafa Castle Cup final as the Zebras fell 3-2 to South Africa at the Sam Nujoma stadium.

While most of the coaches seemed content with the outcomes of their games, Butler took his every opportunity of his post- match interview to slam the referees.

The 49-year-old Englishman particularly took a dig at Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe and accused him of poor officiating when his team lost the final to Bafana Bafana.

“It’s a shame that a beautiful game of football had to be spoiled by the referee … Janny Sikazwe of Zambia should not have been handling such a high profile match considering that against Namibia in the quarter-finals, he awarded a dubious penalty against us.

“And today, he did the same thing twice, which is not good for football in Africa,’’ decried the Botswana gaffer.

Butler further claimed the tournament would never ever gain any leverage or credibility, “when we have atrocious, disgusting and shameful refereeing decisions not just tonight but throughout the tournament’’.

But Tangawarima dismissed the Englishman’s assertion.

Tangawarima instead paid tribute to the referees for “the high standard of refereeing they demonstrated during the tournament.’’

“All top referees from our region were present to serve their region, a thing I am very proud of. A number of them have been to Fifa and Caf tournaments, so that shows us how important this tournament means to the man in the middle,’’ said Tangawarima.

Tangawarima in disputing Butler’s claims said it is normal and a tradition of some coaches to play the “blame game” whenever the result doesn’t go their way but that doesn’t mean the referees would not have done well.

“I cut the clips of all the major decisions made by the referees which I used for their debriefings. I must say I was pleased with my referees’ performance.

“These debriefing sessions help improve their performance,’’ said Tangawarima.

Former Namibian Football Association president John Muinjo, who is also the head of the Cosafa referees committee, echoed Tangawarima’s views.

“The referees did an exceptional job during the tournament. This year, we did not send anyone home, compared to last year when we had to send two of them home.

“That shows you they did well, taking into consideration they had new rules to deal with,’’ Muinjo said. — Nampa/Harare Bureau