Egypt has requested the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone AFCON 2021 final between them and Senegal, citing players fatigue. Their manager Carlos Queiroz also ranted about the level of officiating at the ongoing AFCON 2021 after being red-carded last night in Egypt’s semifinal triumph over hosts, Cameroon.
Speaking at the end of the game, Egypt’s assistant manager, Diaa El-Sayed, urged CAF to shift the date of the final.
“We are the only team that played 120 minutes in three consecutive games,” he said. “I hope CAF would move the final from Sunday to Monday for the sake of fair play. They have done that with the third-place decider.”
The Pharaohs of Egypt secured a victory on penalties after both sides failed to score in regulation and extra time, thus ending the hosts’ bid to clinch a sixth AFCON title while Egypt now have another opportunity to extend their record number of titles.
In what was a drab affair in Yaounde, the major highlight of the encounter came just before the end of regulation time when Queiroz thought he had seen a Cameroon player elbow one of his players.
The referee first gave him a caution, but the Portuguese kept on remonstrating with the referees on the touchline. Minutes later, he was sent off by referee Bakary Gassama. The former Manchester United coach will now miss the final against Senegal.
“Again, unfortunately, they send this type of referees to a game of this level, referees with no experience, no level, wanting to put on a show… It started right in the dressing room,” Queiroz said after the match. “We hadn’t started the game yet, and he comes to the locker room to intimidate our staff. But even against this, against all the decisions, which were always against Egypt, we were the best team in the second half and on penalties.”
The Egyptian manager was also critical of how his team had been treated since the start of the tournament.
“CAF doesn’t respect Egypt, from the timings to the quality of the pitches – we had the worst pitches! We are Egypt!” he added. “How can this referee, after what he has done in the past, be in the African Cup of Nations? Who understands this? Nobody!”
