Tony Elumelu has called on FIFA to raise the standard of refereeing at the World Cup, following a series of disputed decisions that eliminated African teams from the ongoing tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) made the
appeal in a post on his X page, while congratulating African nations for their
performances.
Africa fielded nine representatives, with eight advancing to
the round of 32 and Egypt and Morocco reaching the round of 16.
However, officiating drew sharp criticism after both Cape
Verde and Egypt were knocked out by Argentina.
Egypt had a goal disallowed due to a foul at the other end,
while Cape Verde faced multiple questionable calls, including a denied free
kick in a dangerous position deep into stoppage time before falling in extra
time.
Egypt also saw a foul on two players go unchecked by VAR as
Argentina scored a late winner to complete a 3-2 comeback from two goals down.
Elumelu, 63, praised the continental effort following
Morocco’s quarter-final exit
“Well done to all the African countries that represented our
continent at the World Cup,” he wrote. “You made Africa proud and showed the
world what African football is capable of.”
He then directly addressed world football’s governing body.
“But @FIFAWorldCup needs to improve the standard of
refereeing because if poor officiating continues, it will damage the game,” he
added.
“Congratulations once again to every African team.”
Africa still awaits its first World Cup trophy, but the
continent has now placed multiple teams in the round of 16 for the third time
in tournament history, has had at least one quarter-finalist in three of the
last five editions, and saw Morocco reach the semifinals in 2022.
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