The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has been forced to appoint a new referee, Bamlak Tessema, for the 2023 AFCON match for third place between South Africa and DR Congo after Moroccan official Redouane Jiyed refused to take charge in protest. According to reports, Jiyed pulled out as he wanted to officiate the Sunday’s final between hosts Ivory Coast and Nigeria, but CAF refused to appoint him for that game. News spread on social media platforms confirming that the Moroccan referee refused to officiate the match because he was hoping to lead the final, and after learning that he was assigned to manage the third-place match, he refused to referee that match, which may expose him to punishment by the Confederation of African Football. Moroccan reports added that Redouane Jiyed (44 years old), who is close to retirement, felt that the CAF Referees Committee was not treating him fairly, as it had excluded him from the selected referees at the Qatar World Cup, kept him in the video operations room, and deprived him of refereeing matches in the African Champions League.
Former World Cup referee Jamal Al-Sharif, the refereeing expert of Al-Araby, considered that the behavior of Redouane Jiyed was strange, especially since he was initially selected to be among the video assistant referees, before he was called upon to referee matches. Al-Sharif said about the Moroccan referee: “He is a distinguished referee at the African level, but at the World Cup in Qatar he was chosen only as VAR. Also, during this edition of the African finals, he was initially chosen among the VARs, but during the tournament he was resorted to referee some matches. CAF may have been looking to give him a chance in the tournament, considering that it is his last major competition, or to benefit from his extensive experience in managing difficult matches.” Al-Sharif added: “After he was assigned to officiate the third-place match, he did not have the right to refuse; a referee cannot decline any match, even in the local league, because that could expose him to punishment. This is an assignment by the referees’ committee, and the federation can change the referee, which is something that also happened to me personally. I was informed on one occasion that I was replaced and my colleague who was an assistant referee became the main referee. We exchanged roles, which made me a little angry, but, in the end, it was my duty and my role to contribute to the success of the matches; the referee must be committed. He has no moral or legal right to refuse; he must be honored by the appointment and must be subject to the decisions of CAF. If he is assigned, he must accept the decision, which is an honor for him and for any referee. I am surprised by this decision of the Moroccan referee. He may be punished because of this unacceptable behavior, unless he has objective reasons justifying this rejection.” (Source: Al Araby)