Nedbank Cup: Why Referee Abongile Tom Crossed His Arms in Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando Pirates Game

• The fallout has continued since Orlando Pirates dumped Kaizer Chiefs out of the Nedbank Cup last Saturday at Soccer City
• During the match in front of a packed Soccer City in the south of Johannesburg, the referee crossed his arms after an incident
• Taken out of context, some people took a screenshot of the official before falsely implying that he was clearly a Pirates fan

Let us get one thing straight: referee, Abongile Tom is not an Orlando Pirates supporter.

This nonsensical conspiracy theory has been doing the rounds since the end of the Nedbank Cup semi-final between Kaizer Chiefs and the Buccaneers last Saturday.

Pirates defeated the Amakhosi 2-1 in front of a sold-out Soccer City. During the match, SAFA official, Tom crossed his arms in the colloquial cross-skull-and-bones gesture that is associated with Pirates.

However, this has absolutely nothing to do with him being - or not being - a Buccaneer as was explained by former FIFA referee and current Premier Soccer League general manager, Ace 'VAR' Ncobo.

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He was addressing this matter seriously, as many people took a screenshot of Tom before disingenuously suggesting foul play.

Speaking on SuperSport's Extra Time review show that Sports Brief observed, Ncobo said:

"Everybody has been talking about that no wonder Orlando Pirates won that match. I want to educate the Extra Time viewer that, that is the international medical sign for 'serious injury - bring the stretcher quickly'. Everywhere you go, the referee would use that sign to say that urgent action is required. 'Come with the stretcher. Come with everything that we need'. This has nothing with the Buccaneers!"

For context, there had been a heavy collision between Reeve Frosler and Bandile Shandu in the build-up to that much-discussed and debated moment.

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Chiefs penalty claim explained

Sports Brief also reported that during the match, there was another moment of controversy.

The ball struck Pirates' Kabelo Dlamini on the arm in the penalty box as he went up to block a free kick.

This saw pundit and PSL top brass, Ace 'VAR' Ncobo stating that this was a blatant penalty.