Local referee Jelly Chavani wins PSL’s top award

When a resident of Chavani village, Mr Jelly Chavani, got promoted to join the panel of professional referees in 2015, little did he know that, five years down the line, he would receive the Premier Soccer League’s best-referee award.

The virtual ceremony during which the PSL’s stars were awarded was held last Thursday evening. Chavani was presented with a cheque to the value of R50 000.

Speaking to Limpopo Mirror shortly after the ceremony, Chavani revealed that he still found it hard to believe that he is the best referee in the Premier Soccer League. When asked what he thought could have convinced the judges to name him as the winner of the prestigious award, Chavani said that the manner in which he had officiated in the game between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in their Telkom Cup fixture might have been one of the contributing factors.

Another possibility is that the way in which he officiated at the Nedbank Cup final between Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic last month could have convinced the judges to nominate him as the PSL’s best whistle man. Chavani was competing with Luxolo Badi and Victor Gomes for the award. He dedicated the award to his role models in the refereeing industry, Messrs Olani Kwinda and Victor Hlungwani.

Chavani further stated that his next target was to officiate at international level within the next three years. “At the age of 24, I think I still have a lot to offer to football,” he said.

The best assistant-referee award was presented to Mr Shaun Olive. He received a cash prize amounting to R40 000. The recipients for the other awards are: Goodman Mosele (young player of the season), Hlompho Kekana (best goal of the season), Pitso Mosimane (coach of the season), Themba Zwane (players’ player of the season and footballer of the season), Ronwen Williams (goalkeeper of the season), Rushine de Reuck (best defender of the season), Themba Zwane (best midfielder of the season), Bradley Grobler (MTN 8 last man standing), Gaston Sirino (Telkom KO player of the Tournament) and Victor Letsoalo (Nedbank Cup most promising player). 

Date:31 October 2020

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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