Young Africans lodge match-fixing complaint with CAF over disallowed goal
6th April 2024
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Tanzanian outfit Young Africans have sparked claims of administrative error and match-fixing following their defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns in their CAF Champions League quarter-final clash on Friday night.
SABC Sport has seen a letter addressed to the continental motherbody’s secretary general, Veron Mosengo-Omba, requesting an investigation into the disallowed goal that would have given Yanga a 1-0 advantage in the second half.
The visitors thought they’d broken the deadlock through attacker Stephane Aziz Ki in the 57th minute, when his snapshot beat goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, hit the crossbar and bounced before coming back into play.
But the Video Assistant Referee [VAR] deemed it no goal in agreement with the on-field decision, thereby infuriating the Yanga hierarchy as the club went on to lose 3-2 on penalties and Sundowns progressing to the semi-finals.
The letter in the public broadcaster’s possession asks questions of the CAF Champions League rules and regulations – such as:
- Referee Dahane Beida and his fellow match officials “intentionally neglected to review the goal incident through VAR, thereby disregarding the principles of fair play and justice in football.”
- Request for an investigation of administrative error and match-fixing.
- “The aforementioned actions by the referee team indicate a deliberate attempt to influence the outcome of the match in favour of Mamelodi Sundowns, constituting a serious case of match-fixing.
- This is further supported by the selective use of VAR, primarily focusing on fouls committed by Young Africans Sports Club for potential red cards, while ignoring a legitimate goal-scoring opportunity.
- The integrity of VAR and the standard of refereeing.
As such, Yanga are expecting CAF to review footage of the game and provide a conclusive report of the events of the night at Loftus.
Coach Miguel Gamondi did not mince his words either during his post-match press conference with journalists, in which he was reluctant to answer questions but the CAF media officer pleaded with the Argentine to at least respond to a few.
"It's impossible to fight against VAR. I find it extremely unjust what unfolded here. The referee did not want to go check if the ball crossed the line, but he went to see if there was a yellow or red card," he said.
"The people of Tanzania were robbed today – how the decision was taken is suspicious at the very least."
