The head of the Tunisia Football Federation quit as a member of
the African Cup's organizing committee on Sunday in the wake of his country's
contentious quarterfinal loss to host Equatorial Guinea, which sparked ugly
on-field clashes involving players and coaches.
The Tunisian federation said in a brief
statement that FTF President Wadie Jary had handed in his resignation having
been a member of the tournament committee since May 2013.
The federation didn't give a reason, but
Jary quit a day after Tunisia was eliminated by Equatorial Guinea at the
African Cup after a hotly disputed refereeing decision turned the game. It left
Tunisian players and coach Georges Leekens furious.
With Tunisia leading 1-0, Mauritian
referee Rajindraparsad Seechurn
awarded the home team a highly
questionable penalty in the last minute of normal time in Saturday's
quarterfinal. Equatorial Guinea equalized from the spot-kick and went on to win
2-1 in extra time to reach the semis for the first time.
Seechurn's decision sparked the ugly
scenes as players and coaching staff members brawled on the sidelines on a
number of occasions and threw water bottles at each other. Tunisian players
attacked the referee at the end of the game and had to be beaten back by riot
police in the chaos at Bata Stadium.
The Confederation of African Football
didn't immediately respond to questions Sunday over whether it would begin
disciplinary proceedings against those involved in the chaos on Saturday night.
A number of Tunisian players could face
lengthy bans after they chased Seechurn across the field after the final
whistle, aiming punches and kicks at him as he scurried to safety with the help
of riot police. Substitute players and coaching staff also fought near the
dugouts, both during and after the game, while head coaches Leekens and
Equatorial Guinea's Esteban Becker angrily confronted each other.
Leekens suggested the referee might have
wanted the home team to win, calling the penalty decision "forced."
It was a complaint repeated by some Tunisian players.
"The last thing you can call this is
a football match," Tunisia defender Mohamed Ali Yakoubi said. "We
felt they wanted us to lose by force. The penalty wasn't justified and came at
a crucial time ... It wasn't fair what he (the referee) did."
When asked if he felt the referee's
decision was "premeditated," an angry Leekens told reporters to look
for themselves at the television replays. The decision was clearly wrong by
Seechurn and the tackle on Equatorial Guinea's Ivan Bolado in the 90th minute
was not a foul.
Equatorial Guinea coach Becker shrugged
off Tunisian complaints, saying refereeing decisions were "part of
football."
Ironically, Equatorial Guinea's football
federation made an official protest to organizers CAF after its first game of
the tournament, when a refereeing error denied the home team a legitimate goal.
The Equatorial Guinea federation said then that it was the victim of a
"conspiracy" and warned CAF to "stop this behavior by
referees."
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/02/01/4109902/tunisia-fa-head-quits-african.html#storylink=cpy
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