Said: CAF allowing refereeing scandals

by Staff Reporter

Sunday Feb 25, 2024. 13:00

Pyramids FC sporting director Hany Said has criticised the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for not dealing with poor officiating against opposition teams playing at the Stade TP Mazembe.

This, after Krunoslav Jurcic’s side suffered a 3-0 defeat to TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi on Saturday which resulted in their elimination from the CAF Champions League.

First-half goals from Joel Beya (32′), Glody Likonza (45+1′) put the Ravens in command on home soil before Patient Mwamba (90+2′) wrapped up the win late on to ensure they retained top spot in Group A.

Said expressed his dismay at the refereeing decisions that favoured the home team after the match official denied Pyramids two stonewall penalties and claims CAF isn’t doing enough to stamp out such “scandals”.

“The role of the CAF is not clear and extremely strange regarding the refereeing scandals suffered by all clubs at the Mazembe stadium,” he said after the Egyptian club’s exit from Africa’s elite club competition.

“The latest of which happened to Pyramids today after the Ghanaian referee turned a blind eye to two clear penalty kicks for Pyramids FC.

“The referee succeeded in turning the game in favor of Mazembe by not awarding two penalty kicks to Pyramids, even though the team was dominating the match significantly, in addition to some individual mistakes by the players.

“The referee played in favor of the home team and contributed to terrorizing the Pyramids players after not awarding two penalty kicks, contributing to giving Mazembe the win.”