Zambia Lodges Complaint To CAF Over Ethopian Referee Who Awarded Banyana A Penalty

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has informed its stakeholders and football family that it has lodged a formal complaint to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) against the officiating exhibited by Ethiopian referee Lidya Tafesse Abebe during the 2022 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) semi-final match between Zambia and South Africa.

In a complaint letter dated 18th July 2022 addressed to CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba, FAZ general secretary Adrian Kashala advanced six key incidences including the late minute penalty awarded to South Africa.

“We therefore wish to contest against the decision of the referee to award such a penalty resulting in a goal which decided against our team progressing to the finals as we call for a serious review of the game,” read part of the FAZ appeal.

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“We call for the penalty to be cancelled, that a replay be ordered and that the referee be barred from handling any games.” Kashala says FAZ opted to file a complaint as Zambia suffered similar injustices in their quarterfinal victory over Senegal.

“We have further noted with great concern the poor officiating that characterised the tournament specifically our games. We recorded similar incidents of poor match officiating by referees who have gone scot-free among them referee Bouchra Karboubi who has continued to handle games at the tournament as if nothing happened,” he said.

Kashala said casting a blind eye to the multiple horrendous refereeing decisions would be perpetuating the injustice caused by the referee.

ELLIS REACTS TO SECURING WAFCON FINAL SPOT

Banyana coach Desiree Ellis dedicated the win to the group 2018 who also reached the final and lost to Nigeria on penalties. “In 2018 we came so close, there was no competition in 2020 and before we started our camp, we sat down as a group and said what is our main objective? The first one was to qualify for the World Cup, the second was to win the final – we cannot win the final if we’re not in the final,” Ellis told the media after the match.

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“This time is another chance after coming so close in 2018, and it’s not just for us but for the players who were there in 2018, the coaches that were part of us, so it’s all for those people back home for the support they’ve given us.

“The players were absolutely magnificent today, whatever we asked of them they gave it. When we made the changes, they gave it [their all], they put their bodies on the line and I thought they were absolutely magnificent.”

On what it means to be in a second successive final for her and the team, Ellis responded: “It means a lot to us. We want to give ourselves another chance of getting that elusive gold medal.”