Group Stage - Matchday 1
Sunday 21 December 2025
Group A
20:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah)
MOROCCO - COMOROS
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo COD
Assistant Referee 1: Guylain Ngila Bongele COD
Assistant Referee 2: Gradel Mbilizi Mwanya COD
Fourth Official: Messie Jessie Oved Nkounkou Mvoutou CGO
Video Assistant Referee: Dahane Beida MTN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Babacar Sarr MTN
CAF Referee Observer: René Daniel Louzaya CGO
6’ : obvious YC to Aguerd missed by Ndala Ngombo. Simple warning not sufficient here. Lenient line of refereeing as usual for CAF referees in their continental competitions.
ReplyDelete10’: good decision with PK for Morocco. Live, strong and firm. Well done.
ReplyDeleteApart from the penalty call, not a challenging first half for the Congolese referee, but he is clearly oriented in keeping cards. Could have issued the frist booking for holding now but he warned the player.
ReplyDeleteA few seconds after my message, first booking :)
DeleteSorry to disagree the penalty was soft
ReplyDeleteWhat was this var intervention??????
ReplyDeleteAgree. Unbelievable OFR from VAR Beida. How on earth to send referee front of screen with this good no pk decision and furthermore clear handball before.
DeleteVery wrong VAR intervention, luckily it was also for the previous handball but sorry never a clear and obvious penalty what happened after. In my opinion, this intervention should have been avoided.
ReplyDeleteMandatory YC to Morocco player for this late challenge on keeper.
ReplyDeleteVery reckless.
Hmmm, I suspect the next month will underline how good of a referees manager (now-dismissed) Noumandiez Doue was. Ndala was in my view a poor choice to referee the opening game - he improved significantly from his catastrophic level of refereeing having first arrived on the top international scene in the late 2010s, but the DRC ref still has glaring deficiencies in managing the game (despite that you can see he has been well-coached, trying to issue warnings etc). No YC at 6' is wrong, but is understandable, but the penalty is quite a poor call imo - just seconds earlier, Rahimi had already committed a swan dive with no reaction at all by the ref, and then what was eventually whistled for on Diaz could easily have been shown in the pre-Arab Cup seminar for exactly what FIFA did not want given as a penalty. Beida, not a dedicated VAR, showed his lack of experience in the role with his unneccessary intervention - the handball, clear, was missed but the following incident was not a stick-on penalty at all, rather nothing. Ndala, who was about to (unfairly, according to his prior line) issue the first YC to Comoros player at 34' before fumbling around with his pockets and amateurishly changing his mind, then opened the cards instead a couple of minutes later on a bogus incident that was barely a foul at all. Overall recognition of offences has left a bit to be desired, too. As said, I would not have appointed Jean-Jacques Ndala to handle the opener (he did well in the last AFCON, but in three shrewdly-chosen assignments by Doue); from a politcal standpoint though, the appointment was to me anything but surprising.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with politics. Now, just as a curious fact: the Secretary General of CAF, from the Congo DR, was the main advocate for Doue dismissal :)
DeleteFor those who don't know, the person responsible for referees at AFCON is Mamadou Haidara from Mali, who is currently the interim Director of the Committee.
Delete10' Penalty
ReplyDeletehttps://streamff.com/v/d5690813
42' No penalty upheld after OFR (handball of the attacker)
https://streambug.org/cv/2bedef
Globally good refereeing by Ndala. Nothing difficult at all. 4 YC and 1/2 forgotten. We can notice a very good performance by the two AR also.
ReplyDelete