Pupuma fumes over refereeing decisions after Milford’s Sundowns defeat

Milford FC head coach Xanti Pupuma has expressed dissatisfaction with the consistency of refereeing decisions following his team's loss to Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday. Pupuma specifically criticized the officiating surrounding Sundowns' opening goal and a second-half incident where the referee initially seemed ready to show a red card before switching it to a yellow.

This controversy has gained more attention due to the ongoing debate about the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in South African football. After guiding Milford to the top tier of South African football, Pupuma experienced his first taste of the challenges that come with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches. "To be honest, it's the first time I leave a game with a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth," Pupuma told SuperSport.

"Maybe from all the coke I've been drinking. But really, I think some of the rules they apply to us but not to other teams." Despite the result, the Milford coach felt his side had given a strong performance, especially in the first half. "Overall, I think the display how they represented themselves was quite good especially in the first half and parts of the second half."

Pupuma's frustration stemmed from what he perceived as inconsistent application of the laws of the game. "I'm actually annoyed by that because we've been in that position before and those rules were applied to us and when it comes, we hear it's not applied," he said. "Not just that, even in the second half when there was a tackle there in the middle of the park - the referee takes out a red-card and even puts it back and gives the yellow card after seeing who he was about to caution."

For Pupuma, the refereeing decisions overshadowed what he considered a competitive match, where Milford aimed to challenge the African champions. However, he vowed not to let the defeat or his frustration with the officials affect the team's season. "I know these things, they mess it up for us and they mess up a good game where we really came to impose ourselves but we're not going to look down on ourselves," he said. "We're going to pick ourselves up and play Chippa on the weekend and see what happens."