Tunisian referee Slim Jdidi has been suspended
for his controversial handling of the Africa Cup of Nations semi-final between
Ghana and Burkina Faso, the organisers said Thursday.
“We would have expected
a better standard,” Confederation of African Football (CAF) secretary-general
Hicham El Amrani told a media conference just hours after Burkina Faso lodged
an official appeal against key player Jonathan Pitroipa’s red card in the semi-final
win over Ghana on Wednesday.
“There is a meeting
tomorrow (Friday) to discuss the Pitroipa incident,” El Amrani told reporters.
The official said
Pitroipa’s chances of playing in the final depend on the match report sent in
by Jdidi.
“The organising committee does not have the power
to change the referee’s decision unless the referee admits he made a mistake in
his official report,” said El Amrani.
As it stands, Pitroipa
will miss Sunday’s Cup of Nations final against Nigeria in Soweto after picking
up two yellow cards in the stunning penalty shoot-out success over the Black
Stars.
Pitroipa, who has scored
twice in the tournament, was sent off three minutes from the end of extra time
on Wednesday for diving when, in fact, he had clearly been knocked to the
ground after tangling with an opponent.
Team manager Gualbert
Kabore, speaking at the team hotel in north-eastern city Nelspruit, told AFP:
“The Burkina Faso Football Federation wrote an offical letter of appeal to CAF
(competition organisers).
“We lodged it in the two
hours after the match as stipulated by the regulations.
“We think we have a good
chance of winning the appeal.”
Kabore, a distant
relation to another key Burkinabe player, midfielder and vice-captain Charles
Kabore, echoed coach Paul Put’s dim view of Jdidi’s decision-making during the
match.
Chief among the
Tunisian’s perceived errors in the Burkina Faso camp were the rejection of a
legitimate penalty claim, a disallowed goal that appeared to be valid, and
Pitroipa’s sending off.
“There were some
scandalous decisions, we don’t know why, we’re asking lots of questions, there
are lots of theories,” said Kabore.
“Curiously, the players
reacted better than us (the team management). They said if the referee is
against us that must mean we are the stronger side.”
Burkina Faso are hoping
to hear later Thursday whether their appeal has been successful.
The Stallions are
already having to do without the services of top scorer Alain Traore.
He was leading the
scoring charts in South Africa with three goals only for his Nations Cup to end
prematurely when he sustained an injury against Zambia in the final first-round
game.
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