The Malian Football Federation has released a protest, criticizing the officiating during their round of 16 match against Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday, 26 January 2022.
The Eagles of Mali lost the encounter in penalty shoot-out (5-6), an outcome which they have acknowledged, but remain disappointed with the poor decisions taken by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
“During the 8th finals match between Mali and Equatorial Guinea yesterday evening at the Limbe Stadium, the Video Assistant Referee canceled a penalty given to Mali by the referee of the match, and in another instance, the VAR stayed silent in the case of a clear handball of an Equatorial Guinea player” reads an excerpt of the document signed by Ibrahim Bathily, Assistant Secretary-General of the Malian Football Federation.
“Mali accepts their defeat with fair-play and congratulates Equatorial Guinea for their qualification to the quarter-finals, but we officially protest against this act which seems suspicious” the letter continued.
It ended with a call for more vigilance on the part of referees during the remaining matches of the current AFCON, so as to maintain a good image of CAF.
Equatorial Guinea will play against Senegal on Sunday, 30 January.