2023-11-20 05:50:16
Questioned in the wake of the big victory against South Sudan (4-0) on Saturday in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, Senegalese coach Aliou Cissé widely criticized the level of refereeing in the Africa zone. “In the eight years that I have been here, (…) refereeing errors have occurred everywhere on the African continent. It’s not just tonight,” he said in a post-match press conference.
On Saturday evening, a goal was disallowed to Habib Diallo for a questionable offside, and two potential penalties were not awarded to Senegal by David Molise, the Lesotho referee of the match. “I will measure my words (…), because if I start talking about everything that is happening in arbitration on the African continent, I risk being suspended”, first warned the former PSG player. His comments echo, for example, those of his Algerian counterpart Djamel Belmadi, not shy of criticism after the elimination of the Fennecs against Cameroon in the qualifying play-offs for the 2022 World Cup.
Cissé invites CAF to “support them”
Beyond his criticisms, Aliou Cissé showed compassion towards African referees, whom he considers “alone”, and urged the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to “support them”. And the coach of the Teranga Lions elaborated: “Today, what is the status of the referee? How many arbitrators today are co-opted, paid, remunerated? It is all this work that CAF must still look at in depth. »
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