In the wake of the poor referee’s performance in the 2013 Africa Nations Cup semi-final match between Burkina Faso and Ghana which the former edged 3-2 on spot kicks, i must now truly believe that poor refereeing is one of the biggest obstacles to development of African football.
Tunisian referee Slim Jdidi’s performance overshadowed what was a dedicated performance from the two West African nations.
There is no denying the fact that referees are human beings who are susceptible to committing mistakes like any person but Slim Jdidi’s were too many on the night that would make you believe he was against Burkina Faso.
Jdidi denied Burkina Faso a 5th minute penalty, disallowed an extra-time goal before sending off midfielder Jonathan Pitroipa for a second bookable offence in the second period of extra time for what he saw as simulation though it was clear the Stallions’ number 11 was fouled.
Justice was only achieved after Burkina Faso went on to win the game 3-2 on post-match penalties after finishing 1-1 at the end of extra-time but the day’s decisions from the Tunisian official left a bitter taste.
Some other notable poor referees ‘decisions at Afcon 2013:
-In the group stages, Zambia were awarded a dubious penalty against Nigeria from which Kennedy Mweene levelled matters for the Chipolopolo. On a positive note, the referee from Egypt was condemned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and sent home
-In another group game involving Togo and Tunisia, the latter was awarded a dubious penalty. Thank God, it was missed.
-In the quarter finals, Ghana was awarded a controversial penalty in the 2-0 win over minnows Cape Verde.
Others include Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Uganda Cranes in the 2008 Afcon qualifiers match played in Abeokuta. Senegalese referee Baddara Diatta disallowed Geoffrey Sserunkuma’s would be legitimate equalising goal in the dying minutes of the encounter.
Just recently in 2012, Uganda’s 4-0 win over Congo Brazzaville in the second leg of the first round of the 2013 qualifiers was marred by controversy courtesy of match officials.
The biased refereeing partly explains why it’s difficult to earn an away win in African football unlike on other continents. It is believed that most host nations bribe officials to swing the games in their favour though no evidence has been attached to this yet.
Other theories suggest that CAF wants big names at the finals of the continental competitions thus doing everything to deny the small sides victory over the so called African soccer powers.
It also partly explains why African countries don’t perform well at the World Cup.
It’s high time teams win fairly or else the beautiful game on the continent is ruined.
