Victor Gomes Retires from Being a Professional Referee!
Victor Gomes Retires from Being a Professional Referee! The experienced referee has called it quits from the game.
Victor Gomes Retires from Being a Professional Referee! The experienced referee has called it quits from the game.
Victor Gomes has officially retired from football as a referee. This comes just days after he returned from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The referee, alongside assistant Zakhele Siwela were the only South African representatives at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This was a great achievement for him.
He also refereed the 2022 AFCON Final between Senegal and Egypt earlier this year.
“This dream started when I was a little boy,” Gomes told Robert Marawa.
“I always aspired to get to a [FIFA] World Cup. I think today after having achieved that World Cup, I’m truly blessed, I’m grateful that God has given me this opportunity.
“It’s been a very long journey; we’ve had to fight hard. I’m either stubborn or stupid, but I’ve stuck to my dream and my passion.
“That 8-hour flight from Doha [Qatar], direct, it was a long time for me to think about things. I discussed this with my family, my wife has always been my pillar of strength, in everything that I do.
“The support structure at home is very important. If I am where I am today, she’s played a very big part in it and my kids.
“So, we discussed this a while ago already. I looked at what I’d achieved and I looked at my ambition, I looked at my goals and I realised that I had done every single final there is to be done in Africa.
“In terms of that, I knew that the African soil was done for me. I knew that I had achieved the Olympic Games.
“I went to the [FIFA] u/17 World Cup. All that was missing was the Senior Men’s World Cup.
“Having achieved that now, it’s time to no longer be a Malume (uncle) at home. The kids are always calling me Malume and that’s a problem, you know the weekends are always away.
“I’ve been spending two months out of a year from the past couple of years away from home. It’s taken its toll and I think its time I gave back to football in another way.” He added.
He is the most successful local referee in recent years. Victor Gomes Retires from Being a Professional Referee!
