Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is asking for protection for his players from match officials after Teboho Mokoena was on the wrong side of a horrendous tackle in their MTN8 win over Polokwane City on the weekend.Mokoena suffered a brutal challenge on his ankle at Lucas Moripe Stadium and missed Downs’ opening match of the Premiership, where they got three points against TS Galaxy in Mbombela. The Brazilians won the cup and league games 3-2. Despite the severity of the tackle, City player Surprise Mathonsi did not receive a yellow card from referee Philangenkosi Khumalo, sparking widespread criticism. Mokoena is doubtful for Sundowns’ big clash against Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Saturday, where both teams will be looking to continue their winning starts in the league. Teboho Mokoena's injury from a tackle by Surprise Mathonsi of Polokwane City as shared Sundowns assistant coach Fábio Fernandes. pic.twitter.com/IPdloBFgL4— Mahlatse Mphahlele (@BraMahlatse) August 12, 2026
“It is important to understand Teboho Mokoena was not in this match [against TS Galaxy] and it is important for me to say South Africa must understand we have to protect our players,” Cardoso said after a win against Galaxy secured by substitute Sphelele Mkhulise’s late brace. “We cannot come from the World Cup, where Teboho was a national hero [for Bafana Bafana in June], and when he is playing his first match on South African soil, we allow such aggressive action over him without it being penalised by a yellow card. “This is the injury imposed on Teboho. It was a rough one and the player [Mathonsi] was not yellow-carded for the action.” Cardoso said raising the issue was not a criticism but a call to action. “We have to protect our players and this is a positive approach and not criticism. We need to protect players who want to play football. As Sundowns, we are a team that wants to play football and we play fair, even though playing fair sometimes is not enough. “If you watched the last game [against Polokwane City] properly, at halftime there were two players of the opponent who should have been red-carded and the match would not have gone to extra time. “Against TS Galaxy, we put more than 90 minutes on the legs and it was clear to see that Antonio van Wyk, who is not used to playing so regularly, and Tashreeq Matthews were struggling with freshness. “We had to let Grant Kekana recover because he was absolutely tired.” Cardoso also pointed out that Sundowns received many yellow cards last season and some were soft. “Just to compare, we were one of the teams that had more yellow cards throughout the season. The highest one had 58 and we had 53, and if you compare with [Premiership champions] Orlando Pirates, they had almost half our yellow cards. Unfortunately in South Africa we continue to play without VAR but throughout Africa more and more countries have it— Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso“We had four red cards in actions that were less rough than the one we saw in the last match against Polokwane City. For example, Pirates had zero red cards and we had four throughout the season.” The coach made another call for the implementation of VAR. “We want the games to be played the normal way, especially our games that are technical. The players in the front need to be protected by referees. But they [match officials] have no help because there is no VAR. “Unfortunately in South Africa we continue to play without VAR but throughout Africa more and more countries have it. Morocco, Egypt, Mauritania, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Tunisia have VAR. “Even Benin and Ghana are starting experiments with VAR. But here in South Africa, we still don’t have it.”
