17 Sep 2013

Mascom Top 8 referee of the tournament, Tirelo Mositwane’s refereeing command during the South Africa/ Zimbabwe international friendly recently has been hailed by the national referees committee.

The 26-year-old Mositwane and two assistant referees, Moletlanyi Keoagile and Elijah Masitha officiated the game which ended 2-1 in favour of Zimbabwe.

In an interview, national referee committee chairman, Edwin Senai said they were proud with the manner that Mositwane handled the game. He highlighted that there were instances where players tried to intimidate him but however noted that the referee stood his ground and disciplined them.

“Tirelo handled his game well, he was relaxed and confident despite the fact that majority of the players are much older than him,” he noted. Senai indicated that the youngster made them proud more so that multitudes watched the match live on television.

Nevertheless the chairman highlighted that this was not Mositwane’s first international match, adding the youngster had shown tremendous growth and commitment to his work. He said it was a good development for Botswana to have young referees who will carry the torch when veteran referees retire.

He said the duo of Masitha and Keoagile might retire this year as per the FIFA panel code which stipulated that match officials should retire at the age of 45 unless they like to do fitness tests and continue officiating. Senai said they were expecting some of their referees to officiate at international games soon.

BOPA could not interview Mositwane as per the FIFA rules and regulations which deterred referees to grant interviews to media. Ends