blue Sport refereeing expert Urs Meier analyzes why the referee let the game slip away at the Africa Cup final and what he should have done better.
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- Referee Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo denied Senegal a regular goal in the Africa Cup final and thus initiated a dramatic final phase.
- According to expert Urs Meier, the referee acted too passively, made several wrong decisions and lost control of the game as a result.
- In particular, the controversial penalty whistle after VAR intervention and poor crisis management caused chaos, which was mainly calmed down by player Sadio Mané.
The final phase of the Africa Cup is pure drama: Senegal's supposed 1-0 goal at the start of stoppage time is disallowed by referee Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo from the Democratic Republic of Congo due to an alleged foul.
"It's more the defender who commits the foul. The defender is active, he doesn't even look at the ball. And the striker basically does exactly the same as the defender. So this action should have been allowed to continue," Urs Meier told blue Sport.
Meier regrets that the problems that followed later would not have occurred if the referee had acknowledged the incident. The referee saw the action "incredibly well". But in scenes where a goal could have been scored, they let the game continue. "That's how the referees are instructed. And then he blows the whistle and no longer has the opportunity to consult the VAR. That was definitely wrong of the referee - he should have handled it completely differently," Meier criticized.
Shortly afterwards, Brahim Díaz and Senegal's El Hadji Malick Diouf come to blows. After a slight hold in the penalty area, Díaz energetically demanded a penalty. Amid loud protests from the Senegalese, Ngambo watches the scene again on the TV screen - and points to the spot after the VAR decision.
Subsequent chaos avoidable
"That's for the referee to decide on the pitch," says Meier, adding: "He sees the intention. He sees how strong the tearing is. Is that enough for a penalty or is it not enough? You don't have to fall over if you only have your arm on your shoulders."
After watching the images on the screen several times, the scene gets worse and worse and he decides to give a penalty, which he probably wouldn't have given on the pitch, believes the man from Aargau. "That was unfortunate and, of course, in connection with the previous decision, there was an explosion," said Meier.
In his opinion, the referee should have been more present, as is the case in FIFA, UEFA and the Swiss Football Association: "We are the match officials. We direct the action. We say what goes on and what happens when they leave the pitch." It's the referee's job because there's no one else to do it. It's difficult to say whether the referee simply wanted to cool down the heated debate with his passivity. However, he is a fan of referees taking control.
Referee has lost command
Senegal's players and coaches raged, and coach Pape Thiaw even ordered his players into the dressing room. Fortunately, they didn't stay there for long. Sadio Mané was the first to call on his team-mates to return to the pitch. When Díaz was finally allowed on, he opted for a lob into the center of the goal. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy stood still and held onto the ball effortlessly.
Meier praised the former Liverpool star's behavior. And would have liked Ngambo to talk to Mané. "He needs to know which are the sensible people who make good decisions. Then he'll get the result quicker," emphasized the 66-year-old.
Meier also criticized the length of time it took for the Díaz penalty. "The goalkeeper, who had already been cautioned once, gets the ball again. Of course Senegal are trying to cause as much trouble as possible. He has to create clarity, he has to say that there's a yellow card," explained Meier. "You could tell that somewhere along the line he didn't have the strength and lacked conviction," the former top referee analyzed.
