A referee who officiated at the Africa Cup of Nations has questioned CAF's decision to offer him Bafana Bafana's third-place playoff against DR Congo instead of the competition's final.
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The 2023 AFCON has been lauded by many for being a prime example of world-class officiating, but it seems that one of the referees who featured in the Ivory Coast is not happy with a big decision made by African football's governing body.
Moroccan referee Redouane Jayed feel his chances of performing the same duties at the 2026 FIFA World Cup have been compromised after CAF decided to choose Dahane Beida to do the honours of officiating the final instead of him.
"I heard many stories about rebellion and disagreement that reached the point of clashing with the CAF arbitration committee," he told Radio Mars.
"This did not happen. All that mattered was that I politely refused to lead the third-place match because I was present on this station.
"Since 2010, that is, since I received the international badge, I have missed many final matches for clubs and national teams due to the presence of the Moroccan national team or Moroccan teams or from the north African region.
"The situation in Cote d'Ivoire was different when the organising country's team reached the final with Nigeria. I led the match between Cameroon and Nigeria, the Clasico of the region, and I got high points, and I was the candidate to lead the final.
"I did not understand why I was ignored, so I refused to attend the match for third place, because no one spoke to me to explain to me what happened... I asked for clarifications, but unfortunately I did not receive them, so it was a response.”
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"I did not delve into the rest of the details, but what I experienced in Cote d'Ivoire caused me great pain, made me frustrated, and I fear that no Moroccan referee will attend the World Cup, because strange things happen at the level of appointments that I do not understand."
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