Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef has explained why coach Nasreddine Nabi was sent off after Amakhosi suffered a 1-0 defeat to Golden Arrows in the Betway Premiership match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.

Nabi remonstrated with referee Olani Kwinda after the final whistle, confronting him on the pitch until they went to the tunnel to express his dissatisfaction by pointing his finger in his face.

This led Kwinda to brandish a red card, meaning Nabi will miss the next two matches for Chiefs.

As Nabi was sent off, Ben Youssef addressed the post-match press conference and was asked why the coach was dismissed.

“Do I have to answer this question?” said the visibly agitated Ben Youssef.

“Let me answer for you. Normally, in football, a substitution takes 30 seconds.

“I ask you this – how many substitutions did we make in the second half? You don’t know. Despite being allotted five substitution windows, we only made three.

“Regarding the red card, Arrows were attempting to waste time. They went down easily, stalling the game, and you only added three minutes of stoppage time.

“We expected at least five minutes of added time. In the 12 games we’ve played so far, we’ve typically received more than five minutes of extra time. You only add three minutes and don’t even issue a yellow card for time-wasting.”

Ben Youssef then dropped a bombshell, expressing his personal feelings.

“We feel like he tried to help Arrows and I know it is not a good situation for us,” he said. 

“But I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”  

Gladwin Shitolo scored the decisive goal for Arrows in the second half, capitalizing after Amakhosi goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma parried a powerful shot into his path. Shitolo then unleashed a thunderous strike into the roof of the net.

This was the first time that Arrows had defeated Chiefs at the Moses Mabhida Stadium since the venue reopened after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.