Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef has suggested that match referee Olani Kwinda appeared to favour Golden Arrows during their clash at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.
The Soweto giants, fresh off an impressive 2-1 victory over Stellenbosch, suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Abafana Bes'thende. The loss saw them drop to sixth place on the log table.
Coach Nareddine Nabi was shown a red card after the match following a heated exchange with the referee.
Nabi, who was brought in by the Phefeni Glamour Boys at the start of the season, was tasked with steering the club back on course after last season's disappointing 10th-place finish.
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However, despite a promising start to the season under his leadership, Amakhosi have struggled to maintain consistency.
Explaining why Nabi was shown a red card, Youssef explained that Nabi received a red card for voicing his dissatisfaction with the referee's handling of the match.
"Normally, in football, if you make a substitution, it's 30 seconds. So, I give you a question, how many substitutions did we make in the second half?" Youssef said to the media.
“They make five substitutions and we made three substitutions. So, if you count how many times is that.
"The issue with the red card, he (Nabi) went to the referee and said, how do we make this substitution? That’s the normal strategy for Golden Arrows. They try to win the time, every challenge, they go down. And you give only three minutes. It should be five minutes.
“We have played now 12 games and always five minutes and more than five minutes for extra- time. If you only give three minutes then you allow for them, when they try to play, you allow for them.
“You give them time to win the time. You don’t give a yellow card. Like, we feel like he tried to help the opponent team and I know it’s a good situation for us. But I don’t want to talk about it.”
IOL Sport