sports

Tunisia players in hot water
2015-02-03 17:45
Bata - Tunisia are facing heavy punishment
after their players attacked the referee at the
end of Saturday's African Nations Cup
quarter-final loss to Equatorial Guinea.
The Confederation of African Football(CAF)
will discuss the incident on Monday after
watching video footage, officials said.
Referee Seechurn Rajindraprasad of Mauritius
was attacked by incensed Tunisia players
who chased him down the tunnel and
attempted to kick and punch him as he was
escorted off the pitch by a phalanx of riot-
clad policemen.
CAF will also look at a spitting incident
involving Equatorial Guinea defender Sipoto
who could be suspended for the semi-final.
Sipoto was caught by television cameras
spitting at Wahbi Khazri of Tunisia early in
the bad-tempered match which descended
into unseemly brawls on the pitch and
between the rival benches.
There will, however, be no discussion of the
controversial penalty decision that effectively
cost Tunisia a place in the last four and
which their coach George Leekens said was
"forced".
Rajindraprasad awarded Equatorial Guinea a
soft penalty deep in stoppage time near the
end of the game with Tunisia 1-0 ahead and
seconds away from the semi-finals.
Equatorial Guinea converted the spot-kick to
take the game into extra time and they went
on to record an upset 2-1 victory.
It was a second successive game in which
the host nation had been awarded a generous
penalty which turned the course of the
match.
CAF officials told Reuters the refereeing
decisions cannot be overturned, although two
years ago in South Africa they got an errant
referee to write a letter admitting a mistake
when he sent off Burkina Faso's Jonathan
Pitroipa in the semi-final, effectively ruling
him out of the final.
CAF then rescinded the red card in an
unprecedented bending of the rules to allow
Pitroipa to play in the deciding match.