The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has removed Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan from officiating the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final between Nigeria and Algeria, just hours before the match is due to be played in Marrakech, Soccernet.ng reports.
Artan was originally appointed to take charge of Saturday’s high-profile tie, but La Vague Verte revealed on Thursday that he has been dropped.
This was after it was discovered that the celebrated referee wore boots from a brand not approved by the tournament’s official sponsors during an earlier game.
The action was taken because it breaches CAF’s contractual rules with its commercial partners.
It is a surprising decision especially because Artan was only recently named CAF’s Referee of the Year and had been praised for his performances in Morocco so far.
CAF has not yet officially named his replacement.
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AFCON 2025 and growing concerns inside CAF
Artan’s removal comes at a time of increasing concern about refereeing at AFCON 2025. There have been several controversial decisions earlier in the tournament, and reports suggest there is now tension inside CAF’s referees committee.
Africa football journalist Micky Jnr reported this week that disagreements among senior officials have led to delays in confirming referees for the quarter-final matches.
He said some officials within CAF are unhappy with the general standard of officiating at the tournament and with how some big decisions have been handled. He also revealed that one top referee was at risk of being sidelined for breaking CAF’s sponsorship rules, a claim that now appears to refer to Artan.
The uncertainty has not been limited to the Nigeria vs Algeria match.
Morocco’s football federation reportedly asked CAF to change the referees appointed for their own quarter-final against Cameroon. As a result, Mauritanian referee Dehane Beida will now take charge of that match instead of Egypt’s Amin Omar.
As of Friday morning, only one quarter-final has no controversial refereeing issue. South African official Tom Abongile has been appointed to handle the match between Mali and Senegal. He was also the referee in Mali’s last-16 victory over Tunisia, a game that included an early red card and a penalty shoot-out.
All of this has raised fresh questions about how well the tournament is being organised behind the scenes.
For Nigeria' Super Eagles and Algeria's Warriors, the situation is an unwanted distraction. Both teams have been in excellent form and are still unbeaten at the tournament, having won all four of their matches so far.
Their meeting in Marrakech on Saturday is one of the biggest games of the competition, with a place in the semi-finals at stake.
