By Mulenga Banda, Lusaka
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) says it has lodged a formal complaint to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) against the officiating exhibited by Ethiopian referee Lidya Tafesse Abebe during the 2022 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) semi-final match between Zambia and South Africa.
In a complaint letter dated 18th July 2022 addressed to CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba, FAZ General Secretary, Adrian Kashala advanced six key incidences including the late minute penalty awarded to South Africa.
“We therefore wish to contest against the decision of the referee to award such a penalty resulting in a goal which decided against our team progressing to the finals as we call for a serious review of the game,” read part of the FAZ appeal.
“We call for the penalty to be cancelled, that a replay be ordered and that the referee be barred from handling any games.”
Kashala says FAZ opted to file a complaint as Zambia suffered similar injustices in their quarterfinal victory over Senegal.
“We have further noted with great concern the poor officiating that characterised the tournament specifically our games. We recorded similar incidents of poor match officiating by referees who have gone scot-free among them referee Bouchra Karboubi who has continued to handle games at the tournament as if nothing happened,” he said.
Kashala said casting a blind eye to the multiple horrendous refereeing decisions would be perpetuating the injustice caused by the referee.
