Victor Gomes doesn’t back down from Egypt’s Salah during the AFCON final Photo SPORTbible
Johannesburg – Before the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) final took place, many would not have known who Victor Gomes was. That all changed after his encounter with Egypt’s Mohamed Salah in the AFCON final.
During the game between Senegal and Egypt, Gomes proceeded to hand over his cards and whistle to the Liverpool legend in a manner that suggested Salah should take over the game. Speaking about the incident, Gomes who has been a Premier Soccer League (PSL) referee since 2008 and an international referee since 2011, said he chose to manage a player in a way he deemed “was respectful”.
“On that night I chose to do something that I’ve done before, previously as well, and I chose to manage a top-class world player in a way that I deemed was respectful and in a way that I felt was befitting of such a match. I chose to use that management skill and I think it was very effective, and it just so happened to capture many people’s attention.”
Gomes is no stranger to the mental endurance required to officiate an AFCON final and the level of resilience tested in dealing with different temperaments on the field.
“I just felt, that was the right moment. It was natural, it was just instinctive, just my reaction, and I was surprised. I really got the moment, and we always talk about in refereeing there is a moment in a match and sometimes you need to grab that moment and when you grab that moment that’s when you have the game under control.”
Gomes spoke about an incident he had not shared before about a moment prior to the incident of handing over his cards and whistle.
“There was a moment prior, he [Salah] was on my case, and there was a moment prior I saw him take on three players and eventually lost the ball. I said to him, ‘Hey pass the ball’ and he looked at me and I said to him, ‘You got to pass the ball’ and he looked at me again and I said, ‘You need to pass the ball’ and he started laughing at me and I said to him, ‘Oh you don’t like to be coached so then don’t coach me either’, so it’s a rapport you build with the players.”
AFCON has been criticised for the many mistakes that have occurred at the tournament. One moment that had received major coverage was when referee Janny Sikazwe ended the Mali Vs Tunisia game prematurely, twice. The video of that incident was shared by Sky Sports and other international media without restrictions. Criticism was not spared for allowing the incident to air without restriction in other countries while videos and highlights of the game itself went back to being restricted and only allowed to those in Europe.
Gomes believes it is now time for the media and football lovers to stop portraying the beloved game in such a negative way and to “report positively on football”.
“Sometimes people always look at the negative and I’ve said this before and I’ll continue to say this, it’s about time that the general media and people in general, football lovers, we have a responsibility to report positively on football so the game can grow. We have this adage of bringing the game down in certain aspects whether it be in Africa or whatever. We have a responsibility to report positively on football because ultimately, we are all football lovers.”
Gomes also took aim at commentators who make misleading comments on VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee), that’s not correct. It’s misleading and it’s misleading because of a lack of knowledge”. He did praise local commentators who often message him to explain things and Gomes believes this type of engagement “can ultimately provide a better image of football”.
Gomes has previously refereed in the FIFA World Cup under 17 and Tokyo Olympic games and had the chance to referee the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League final. But he could not be a part of it as Kaizer Chiefs were involved
Having just hosted the AFCON final, Gomes still has big things planned. He is scheduled to referee another tournament final, though he could not say which, and he has been invited to referee an inaugural friendly match in Madeira, Portugal which is the hometown of his parents. Just speaking about it gives him “goosebumps”.
Gomes was voted PSL Referee of the Season in 2012–13 and 2017–18 and was hailed by the South African Football Association (SAFA) after he rejected and reported an attempted bribe of over R300 000 to fix a CAF Confederation Cup match between Nigerian side Plateau United and Algerian side USM Alger.
Thaakir Dawood spoke to Victor Gomes on Salaamedia about officiating football at the highest level in world football and overseeing the recent AFCON 2021 final:
