Former Egyptian international referee, Yasser Abdel Raouf, has claimed that he refused to receive a bribe from the president of TP Mazembe, Moise Katumbi, in the CAF Champions League. His decision led to his exclusion from Africa’s elite club competition for an extended period of time. The incident, he claimed, happened before a match between Mazembe and Tanzanian giants Simba SC.
Raouf told former Egyptian international, Ahmed ‘’Mido’’ Hossam, on Al-Nahar TV, suggesting an emissary advised them the Lubumbashi governor (Katumbi) wanted to sit with them. He said they were surprised to learn the governor was also the club’s president. “We sat with the president of the Mazembe club in his office,” he said. “He offered us a bribe under the pretext that all the referees take these gifts, but we refused to receive them and he asked if we wanted extra money, but we refused completely.” Raouf added Katumbi threatened them with death after they refused to receive the bribe. He pointed out the bribe offer was about $10,000 for each member of the match officials and mentioned everything in the report before contacting captain Shata in CAF and informed him of what happened and received support from Hany Abu Rida (then Egypt FA president and FIFA Council Member). “Egyptian referees Yasser Abdel-Raouf, Ayman Deguesh, Tamer Salah and Fahim Omar submitted a report to the CAF informing them that they were offered a negotiable $10 thousand bribe to ease TP Mazembe’s mission against Simba,” a CAF official told Ahram Arabic Portal. TP Mazembe, the two-time African Champions League winner and the title holder at the time, won the match 3-1. Six years ago, the then Zamalek head coach, Mido, claimed TP Mazembe may have bribed Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey. The Egyptian giants lost 1-0 loss to the Congolese outfit in a 2014 CAF Champions League Group A encounter in Lubumbashi. The referee is alleged to have made several dubious decisions throughout the encounter, prompting an outrage from the visiting team following the final whistle. Several Zamalek players ran on to the pitch in the aftermath, confronting the Ghana official who they felt had been clearly biased. Regarding the referee’s performance, he had the following to say: “We gave our warnings before about letting this referee officiate the match. In 2009, Egyptian referee Yasser Abdel Raouf officially accused Mazembe chairman of offering him a bribe. CAF did not react and we are witnessing a repeat of that now. We should not be making any excuses but the level of refereeing was there for everyone to see,” said Mido. In 2010, Al-Ahly filed a complaint to CAF against Lamptey, who officiated their 1-0 loss at Esperance in a Champions League semi-final clash. Two years later, Orlando Pirates scraped through to the group stages of the Champions League with a 3-2 aggregate win over Mazembe. In the second-leg in Lubumbashi, the referee awarded three penalties, two of which were saved by the late goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, while captain Lucky Lekgwathi was shown a contentious red card following a 50/50 situation. Three years ago, Ghanaian referee Lamptey was banned by FIFA for corruption.
Source: The Record