- The Confederation of African Football swapped referees for Algeria’s game against Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
- The Somali official Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who was selected as CAF’s best referee for 2025, was supposed to officiate the quarter-final match
- Three Kenyan officials were brought in to take charge of the game as the Super Eagles beat Algeria to reach the semi-finals
The referee who was initially supposed to handle Algeria’s game against Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations was surprisingly changed abruptly.
Source: Getty Images
AFCON 2025 has been dogged by controversial officiating calls, a stark contrast to what was witnessed in the previous edition in Ivory Coast.
The hosts, Morocco, reportedly filed an appeal, protesting the match appointments for their quarter-final game against Cameroon.
The Atlas Lions took issue with the appointment of Egypt’s Amin Omar to take charge. In the end, Mauritanian Dehane Beida was in charge as they beat Cameroon 2-0 to qualify for the semi-finals.
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Why Algeria vs Nigeria was dropped at AFCON 2025
It has now emerged that the referee for Algeria vs Nigeria ame was supposed to be Omar Abdulkadir Artan from Somalia.
However, the Somali match official was dropped after he wore boots from a brand not approved by CAF, which is against the contractual obligations.
His place was taken by Issa Sy from Senegal, with his compatriots Djibril Camara and Nouha Bangoura running the lines. Kenyans Gilbert Cheruyiot and Peter Waweru were the third assistant referee and fourth official, respectively.
Another Kenyan, Stephen Yiembe, was the assistant Video Assistant Referee under Gabon’s Pierre Atcho.
The referees didn’t have a lot of controversial moments to intervene, save for Semi Ajayi’s handball in the first half, which a section of fans felt should have been a penalty.
Kish said,
“That Semi Ajayi handball in the box vs Algeria was a CLEAR penalty shout! Ref just waved it away, no VAR check? Super Eagles escaped big time early on! Lucky break or robbery?”
Woramangra said,
“That Ajayi handball inside the area is a great escape for Nigeria. If the referee had gone to the monitor, could have awarded a penalty against the Eagles.”
Algeria FC said,
“I don’t want to hear anyone talk about North African teams cheating. It might apply for one team, but it certainly doesn’t apply to Algeria. A clear handball and penalty not called by the referee or the VAR”
While Remi Jones said,
“We escaped one there! That was a handball and a penalty kick against Semi Ajayi. Pheeew!”
The Super Eagles dominated Algeria, beating them 2-0 to make it to their 16th semi-final. Victor Osimhen scored shortly after half-time before teeing up Akor Adams to put the game beyond the Desert Foxes’ reach.
Eric Chelle’s side will now face the hosts Morocco in the second semi-final on Wednesday for a chance to make it to back-to-back finals.
Source: Twitter
Regragui responds to ref bias at AFCON 2025
Morocco’s head coach, Walid Regragui, responded to claims of ref bias after controversial calls against Cameroon.
Bryan Mbeumo thought he should have gottena penalty after he was clipped by Adam Masina.
Regragui brushed off the accusations, claiming that people were looking for excuses to downplay their performances.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
