Former international referee Mohamed Zekrini held Senegalese referee Issa Sy responsible for the elimination of the Algerian national team from the Africa Cup of Nations, asserting that the official was assigned a “dirty mission” to end the team’s campaign.
In a statement on Sunday, Zekrini said that the Senegalese referee committed numerous errors that directly impacted the match result. He added that the “straw that broke the camel’s back” was a clear penalty that Issa Sy failed to award.
He continued, “The Senegalese referee issued unwarranted yellow cards to Algerian players, with the exception of Zerrouki’s card which was deserved. This disrupted the focus of Mahrez and his teammates during the match.”
Zekrini also claimed that “backstage maneuvering” was at play, stating that Issa Sy arrived with a specific objective to eliminate the Algerian team and prevent them from reaching the semi-finals.
He further explained that several parties were involved in this elimination, including the host country. He noted that had Algeria qualified for that round, they would have faced the host nation, with a strong chance of advancing.
Regarding the referee’s failure to consult VAR for the unawarded penalty, Zekrini pointed out that Gabonese official Atcho was in the VAR room. He noted that Atcho had previously denied Chaïbi a penalty in the sixth minute of the match against Equatorial Guinea.
Zekrini described Atcho as a “special missions operative” in the VAR room, acting in collusion with on-field referee Issa Sy. He asserted that both were “puppets being moved from behind the scenes by certain members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Executive Committee.”
The former international referee concluded by stating that such refereeing errors have not occurred since the inception of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1957. He described the current tournament as the “worst in terms of refereeing from all aspects.”
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