Death threats won't stop top SA referee

"Phone your family, because you won't be seeing them again," bellowed the largest and angriest of seven large and angry Heartland FC fans who had just barged into Daniel Bennett's dressing room.

This was six weeks ago in Owerri, in the aftermath of the Nigerian club's 1-1 home stalemate with Algerian side JS Kabylie in the African Champions League.

Bennett had officiated - and ruled offside a late Chinedu Efugh effort that would have put the hosts 2-1 up.

The affable Joburger had little reason to doubt the seriousness of the intruder's threats, but his only option was passive resistance.

"In Nigeria, you don't take that stuff lightly," he says. "But I and my assistants just waited for help to arrive. If you react or get aggressive in those situations, you have serious issues. You don't look them in the eye, you just look calm. The police came in after about 10 minutes of nonsense."

Bennett faces another hairy outing on Sunday, when he takes charge of the second leg of the African Champions League final between Esperance and TP Mazembe in Tunis. It's the biggest club assignment of his career but the 5-0 first-leg scoreline in Mazembe's favour should mean a nerve-wracking festival of gamesmanship. "Esperance will probably be diving all over the place early on, trying to get a penalty," he predicts.

"And Mazembe will try time-wasting tactics. But I know both sets of players quite well, and I'll have great support from my assistants Zakhele Siwela and Luyanda Somi, and our fourth official, Abdul Ebrahim."

"They'll have my back," says Bennett. "We'll deal with whatever happens."

Bennett's day job is teaching physical education at Mondeor Primary in Johannesburg. He's been at the school for 11 years, and has no plans to leave.

"I work on a flexitime basis, so if I'm not there I don't get paid," says Bennett. "They're very understanding, and it's amicable. If referees do go professional, I would still keep teaching, because it's a useful distraction from football, almost a hobby."

Reffing in Africa is no hobby. Having whistled about 80 games in continental competition in seven years, Bennett has flown close to one-million kilometres. Often he has to overshoot his African destination all the way to Paris, and spend long layovers at Charles de Gaulle - "the worst airport in the world". Each trip takes five days.

Add in the relentless bribery attempts made by many clubs and regular death threats, and you tend to rack up some world-class stress levels. But quitting is not an option.

"Not at all," he says. "My girlfriend is very understanding, and the rest of my family is in the UK. It will take a lot to make me give up. I've got dreams and hopes to fulfil.

"I'm young enough for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. Until then, I'm hoping for a Fifa tournament as a stepping stone."

Bennett is 34, and Fifa enforces retirement at 45, while the PSL calls time at 47. So he has a decade to do his thing.

Like all referees these days, Bennett is appalled by how widespread and acceptable diving and abuse of officials have become.

He applauds the R50000 fine handed to Hans Vonk this week for abusing Ebrahim.

"Because he's the captain, Vonk thought he had the right to talk to the referee. But he had no right to do so - it's only in the Premiership and Uefa where the captain is a kind of spokesman. That policy was part of their "Respect" campaign to stop players mobbing the ref.

"Here in SA, captains can toss the coin, and that's it. Players have to understand they can't question decisions. Vonk did it two weeks in a row. You've got to draw the line somewhere."

Why do players always argue a call, when the referee never changes his mind as a result?

"I've no idea," says Bennett. "I tell the players all the time: it's not going to happen. I really don't know what's wrong with them! The only way we're going to curb it is by booking a player every time he argues. But the problem is that everybody won't toe the line together.

"So Bongani Khumalo might get away with murder at Spurs, but back here, he will be penalised for dissent.

"The PSL is actually quite good, the players are pretty understanding. But now I notice that kids at school level are starting to do it, because they're seeing it in the Premiership."

Bennett is happy to report that diving skills are poor in SA by European standards. "I don't think they've mastered the art here, thank God," he says.

"It's a lot easier than with someone like Didier Drogba. With those guys, the calls are 50-50, whereas in the PSL it's more 70-30 that you've got it right."

Bennett rates his willingness to play advantage as one of his strengths. "I've been told I allow the game to flow a lot, give a lot of advantage, but also bring it back well when necessary. I aim to be a ref you don't see."

In Tunis, he has a chance to be unheard as well as unseen.

Both teams are Francophone, while Bennett can only say "bonjour" in French.

"The beauty of CAF football is the language barrier," he says. "You don't have to explain your decisions."