27 July 2020 –The South African Football Association (SAFA) has appointed Abdul Basit Ebrahim as the new Head of Referees.
Ebrahim, who is a former FIFA referee and FIFA/CAF trained instructor, takes over from Tenda Masikhwa who has left the Association to pursue other opportunities.
With the aid of his predecessor, Ebrahim has already hit the ground running and is busy ensuring that the match officials are tested for COVID-19 and are ready for the resumption of National Soccer League (NLS) matches scheduled for 1 August 2020.
“First, I would like to thank everyone especially SAFA for providing me with this challenging but exciting opportunity to head the Referees’ Department.
“South Africa has been at the forefront of producing the best match officials on the continent and I would like the country to continue being pacesetters in this area. I want to assure everyone that I will do my best in this position,” said Ebrahim.
He said he had inherited solid structures and would continue to consolidate the good base created so far by overseeing the continuous development of future generations of match officials.
“I would like to thank and acknowledge the sterling work that has been done by Tenda Masikhwa over the years in this department. He leaves behind an ideal platform on which to work from,” added Ebrahim, saying he takes over at a time when there was already a lot of work ahead.
“It has already been a busy few days as we have brought in the first group of referees and we have taken them through the health and safety regulations as well as doing physical exercises in preparation for the resumption and completion of the 2019/2020 league season,” he concluded.
Sourced from the SAFA WEBSITE.
