16 year old referee dazzles in Multi-Diski Challenge

Fezile Hlophe represents a bright for match officiating in South Africa.

The 16-year-old referee who handles matches in the MultiChoice Diski Challenge, has an amazing story to tell of having to balance his studies with officiating matches in the Diski challenge.

Hlope rcals his first match being one that featured Kaizer Chiefs, “I took that game as a normal game. I didn’t feel so scared even though it was Kaizer Chiefs and it was my first time doing a game like this. To be honest, I never even thought of it as being something difficult to go in and do. It was just a nice experience”, Hlope said.

The 16 year old started off as a soccer player but eventually decided being a match official could be another option that he could pursue and still succeed in. At the age of 11, Hlope decided to take up refereeing and has never looked back.

Inspired by Victor Hlongwane and Victor Gomes, Hlope hopes to see himself in the PSL panel within the next four to five years.