THE ORGANIZATION that oversees football in Africa, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has been challenged by its decision to appoint a referee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Jean-Jacques Ndala, to officiate the first leg of the Caf Champions League final between Mamelodi Sundowns and AS FAR Rabat of Morocco on May 17.
The first leg will be played at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria, on May 17, while the second leg will be played on May 24 at Prince Moualy Abedellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco.
It appears that Sundowns and AS FAR have sent official complaints to Caf on Monday objecting to Ndala’s appointment. The teams complain that the appointment of the referee undermines the importance of this Champions League final because of his bad history.
Ndala was the one who blew the whistle in the final match of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) between Morocco and Senegal in January, Morocco. It has become history that in this Afcon final there was chaos because of his shocking decisions. He is accused of allowing Senegal to return to the field after leaving the field following his penalty kick.
The decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is still awaited after Senegal appealed against Caf’s decision to award the Afcon trophy to Morocco since it was Senegal who won 1-0 in the final.
According to theMorocco World News, sources inside the Caf confirmed to another Moroccan news source, theThe Botolathat these teams will play in the final of the Champions League have questions about Ndala’s appointment.
The Caf committee that appoints referees confirmed on Sunday that Ndala will be the one to play in the final of the Champions League, assisted by his family members Julien Ngila and Gradiel Munia as assistant referees. Jesse Moise will be the fourth official.
Sudan’s Ahme Abdelaziz will officiate as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), assisted by Libya’s Ahmed Shelmani and Zambia’s Diana Chikotscha.