Patrice Motsepe, President of the Confederation of African Football, commented on the Africa Cup of Nations title crisis between Morocco and Senegal, and also spoke about what happened with the Somali referee at the World Cup.
The Africa Cup of Nations final between the Senegal and Morocco national teams, which ended with the Lions of Teranga winning by a clean goal, witnessed great controversy.
The Senegal national team left the pitch during the final match in protest against one of the refereeing decisions and the awarding of a penalty to the host national team in the final minutes of the second half before it was missed by Ibrahim Diaz, the Real Madrid star.
The Confederation of African Football "CAF" Appeals Committee issued a penalty against the Senegal national team, losing three-nil, and awarded the title to Morocco before Senegal resorted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport "CAS".
On the other hand, Somali referee Omar Artan was excluded from participating in the past World Cup, after being interrogated for 11 hours by immigration authorities in America at Miami International Airport, before being informed of the refusal to enter the country, given his relationship with people suspected of belonging to a terrorist organization.
Motsepe said during statements at the press conference held in South Africa, today, Wednesday: "I was sympathetic when I heard what happened with the Somali referee, he was a candidate to be in the biggest matches in Europe, the Somali referee Omar is the best referee on the continent, and we are proud of him and will continue to support him."
He continued: "There are rules in FIFA and we must respect these rules, sometimes some decisions issued by the legislative bodies within CAF I do not prefer and do not agree with, but the independence of this body is important and respected."
He revealed: "The decision to hold the Africa Cup of Nations every 4 years after holding it every two years is important, I am trying to present something new and different, as we have a commitment to the impression of public opinion."
Regarding the African title crisis between Morocco and Senegal, he commented: "There are reports about what happened in Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations, and we contacted the referees to ensure the application of the law, but in the end what the fans think is very important, we must be clear that there is an impression that you won the tournament not because you are better or because of the referee."
He added: "I am happy with the circulation about what happened between Senegal and Morocco, as in the World Cup people from Senegal were telling me please help us get the title and from Morocco they were telling me the same thing."
He continued: "My answer is one and it is to wait for the final decision from the CAS court, there is nothing in my hands, so I must look at the decisions issued by CAF and implement them."
Motsepe stressed: "I receive a salary from CAF and FIFA of one million dollars a year, and I donate this money to countries and members."
The CAF President stated: "I will go to Morocco on Saturday, I have a lot of numbers, it was said to me since the new leadership when I took office, there is no judge who succeeds alone, and the achievement goes to the entire work team, not only to the CAF President but to everyone, because we did it together, we were traveling every day from Canada to Mexico and America to follow up, so if you are passionate about football you will do that."
