WATCH | Tom aims to officiate in next two World Cups after this year’s edition

With Abongile Tom making his first appearance at a senior Fifa World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada this month, the South African referee is looking beyond this tournament and planning to be part of the next two editions.

Tom will be officiating at the World Cup for the first time and described it as a dream come true.

“The call came through. I think I was in Algeria on a CAF task. The email came, I was not really focused on it, to be honest, because I had a task that I had to take care of,” Tom explained.

“And it was a bit unbelievable, the more it came and the media brought it up, then I said, this thing is happening. When I landed in SA, I realised [that I had been selected]. When the family came through, it was a realisation that this thing was happening. The dream is eventually coming through.

“But also, it should not stop where we are going, for me now I want to go to the next World Cup and the next one after that.”

Tom, who previously worked as a police constable in Nyanga, Cape Town, and served in the crime intelligence cluster, said he was happy that the sacrifice he made is now paying off.

He explained why he resigned from the police to focus on full-time refereeing.

“I’ve sacrificed a lot to work for a dream that could have or could not have come through. I’ve stopped working so I can focus on refereeing but I’m happy to say that today the sacrifice, the trees of the roots that were planted, we are enjoying them,” he said.

“Refereeing is not a permanent job, but it has sustained us for the previous 30 years. The demand was too high for SAPS, even though I would have wished to continue with both. The pressure was a bit too much because you would often be away for two or three months.

“I don’t think there is any job that wants an employee to be gone for so long. It was also tiring coming back from the game straight to work, so I had to find a balance and this is not a decision I’m regretting.”