Following his cryptic post-match interview after Sekhukhune United's MTN8 loss to Cape Town City, the identity of a key figure that MacDonald Makhubedu refused to name in his assessment of Saturday's events has been revealed.
Sekhukhune lost the quarterfinal match 1-0 thanks to a Darwin Gonzalez strike from the penalty spot late on, with the attacker making amends after missing an earlier penalty.
For all its promise as a game that would serve up exciting action considering the signings made by both sides, it turned into a damp squib that would have made watching paint dry a more worthwhile exercise.
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The two penalty decisions just about provided the most excitement in what was a match to forget.
In his post-match interview, Makhubedu, standing in for Peter Hyballa, whose absence was "due to work permit issues" (only for his resignation to be announced later that evening) did not appear pleased with how proceedings unfolded.
However, he was cautious not to upset the powers that be, instead choosing the diplomatic route.
"Someone spoiled the game," is all he mustered, before a lengthy rant.
But it was Makhubedu's comment on an individual he revealed he was planning to meet to discuss some of the incidents from the game that piqued many fans' curiosity.
"People make mistakes. We cannot insult people on TV, they have kids, they have families, so we just have to respect each other in this game. Someone is my homeboy; we are from the same place," he said.
"I'll have a chat with him. I'm going home maybe tomorrow or on Tuesday. We'll have a chat, we'll talk about it, we'll have a drink about it. But for me, it's painful, and for my players, it's painful."
It has now been revealed that the 'homeboy' referred to is, in fact, match referee Thabo Mkhabela.
KickOff has established that the two both come from Mpumalanga, although Makhubedu is from Bushbuckridge and Mkhabela calls Barberton home.
Meanwhile, Mkhabela is fast gaining a reputation as a controversial referee. He made his top-flight debut on 3 November in a match between Chippa United and Maritzburg United, notably giving two penalties in favour of the home side, both of which were converted by Eva Nga in a 3-1 win.
The eventful evening also ended with the Team of Choice's Sibusiso Hlubi being sent off.
Six is the total number of penalties he gave that season, together with 16 yellow cards, having only officiated in five matches.
Mkhabela is known not to be afraid to point to the spot, with his most controversial penalty decision coming last season in a match between Cape Town Spurs and Mamelodi Sundowns, where he handed the latter a penalty despite Asanele Velebayi's foul on Peter Shalulile having taken place outside the box.
The Brazilians won 1-0, a massive result in their early wrap-up of the league championship, while it suffocated the Cape side's attempts to escape relegation.
A month before that, Mkhabela had irked TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic during their game against Spurs after he gave the Rockets a penalty following a foul on Samir Nurkovic.
In a bizarre turn of events, however, some 90 seconds later, with Higor Vidal having placed the ball on the spot and ready to kick, the referee consulted his assistant.
Decision overturned!
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In December 2023, AmaZulu FC had what appeared to be a legitimate goal by Hendrik Ekstein ruled out for offside by the same referee against Sundowns, much to the dismay of Pablo Franco Martin.
"Tomorrow in the newspapers and today in the table, it will say that we lost the game 1-0, but today, AmaZulu beat the best team in Africa – but unlikely. Four people decided the opposite," said the Spaniard, including the assistants and fourth official in his scathing attack.