Plateau United have been knocked out of the CAF Champions League preliminaries after a controversial penalty was awarded to their opponents, Esperance
One of Nigeria’s two representatives at the CAF Champions League, Plateau Utd were hard done by on Saturday after a controversial penalty was awarded by Egyptian referee.
Centre referee, Ibrahim Nour El Din pointed to the spot after a Plateau Utd player brought down an Esperance player outside the 18.
The Plateau players showed their disappointment and surprise with the decision as they had their hands in their head. The Nigerians had stood resolute for 80 minutes before the dubious penalty was awarded in favour of the hosts.
Reactions have since poured in across Africa, especially as it concerns Plateau Utd’s choice of officials for both legs of the game.
https://twitter.com/bylka613_/status/1581339429066530816?s=46&t=nUsELvXBv4H4ms2izIAt9g
What did CAF do with the referees?
CAF appointed Ghanaian, Daniel Laryea as referee in the first leg in Abuja, in a decision that was devoid of regional reasoning.
For the second leg in Tunisia, an Egyptian referee was appointed in what shows CAF’s absolute disregard for known biases in its consideration for officials’ appointment.
It is not the first of such controversial occurrences in African football, with CAF hardly ever addressing the issues.
