Cairo, February 2 (BNA) Egypt submitted a complaint to the Confederation of African Football against the appointment of a Gambian referee for the Pharaohs match against Cameroon in the African Nations Cup semi-final today, Thursday.
The Egyptian Football Association did not mention the reasons for its complaint against Bakary Gassama, one of the most famous referees in Africa.
He officiated the Pharaohs’ 1-0 loss to Nigeria in the group stage, according to the Associated Press.
42-year-old Gassama is known to Egyptian fans as the referee for the Pharaohs’ 2-1 victory over Congo in October 2017, which qualified Egypt for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It was the first time in nearly three decades that they had qualified for the tournament.
Egypt, which has won a record seven African Cups, filed its complaint late on Tuesday. Representatives of the Egyptian Football Association and the Confederation of African Football could not be reached for comment.
The Pharaohs advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Morocco 2-1 with a goal and a pass from its star Mohamed Salah.
Host country Cameroon advanced with a 2-0 win over Gambia on Wednesday, Senegal face Burkina Faso in the first semi-final.
Gassama also managed several matches for the Egyptian giants, Al-Ahly and Zamalek, in the African Champions League, some of which sparked controversy in the football-mad country.
Thursday’s match will witness the two most successful teams in the history of the African Cup, with 12 titles. It will be a repeat of the 2017 final when Cameroon won their fifth cup.
After his victory over Gambia, the president of the Cameroon Federation, Samuel Eto’o, asked his country’s team to prepare for “war” in the semi-finals.
“Whatever you’ve done, you need to make use of it. Prepare yours, because it’s going to be a war, guys,” Ito was seen telling the players in the video comments.
Pharaohs coach Carlos Queiroz dismissed Eto’o’s comments as “unfortunate” and a “bad message”.
“I think he forgot about the killing of the Cameroonians on the field several days ago, so this declaration of war one game before shows that he has learned nothing from his time in professional football,” Queiroz told a news conference.
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