Tunisia faced Mali in the first meeting of Group F. The final whistle saw Mali win 0-1, thanks to a penalty converted by Ibrahima Koné. The only concern in this story, the final whistle was blown by referee Janny Sikazwe in the 89th minute and 50 seconds, while several minutes of added time still had to be played. Angry, the Tunisians may have tried to reason with the referee but he did not flinch.
This error was not the only one of the meeting. Five minutes earlier (85th minute of play), the referee had already decided to stop the game for some reason. The scandalized members of the Tunisian team then lodged a complaint with the refereeing body. They finally won their case and the meeting was able to continue anyway. Two minutes later, a very severe red card was also sent to a Malian player.
An incredible end to the match which also continued following the game. The referee finally agreed to resume the game … twenty minutes later, to play the last three minutes remaining. Except that the Tunisians, already in the shower, never returned to the field.
Regarding the referee, Janny Sikazwe, he referees his fifth CAN. He also competed in the 2018 World Cup and refereed African club cup finals.
This is not the first time that he has been at the center of a controversy. During CAN-2019, Senegal coach Aliou Cissé denounced his “catastrophic” arbitration during the defeat in the group stage once morest Algeria. He reproached him in particular for an unblocked penalty.
He had been suspended following an African Champions League match where he officiated, for “suspicion of corruption”, according to the press release from CAF at the time. But for lack of evidence, this suspension had been lifted, explains AFP.
