Referees are ‘SPOILING’ the Africa Cup of Nations and have turned it into an ‘absolute JOKE’ as fans are left furious at the number of red cards… with 13 sending offs as many as the last four tournaments COMBINED!
- There has been a number of contentious red cards given at Africa Cup of Nations
- So far, AFCON has produced 13, as many as the last four tournaments combined
- Fans have been left furious and have accused referees of ‘spoiling’ the event
- Cape Verde pair Patrick Andrade and Vozinha became the latest to be sent off
The Africa Cup of Nations has been labelled an ‘absolute joke’ because referees are ‘spoiling’ the tournament with red cards.
Fans angrily took to social media after Cape Verde’s last-16 defeat to Senegal was overshadowed by the fact they were reduced to nine men.
Midfielder Patrick Andrade was sent off midway through the first half before goalkeeper Vozinha was also sent off following a collision with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane.
Cape Verde had two players sent off in their Africa Cup of Nations last-16 loss to Senegal
A total of 13 red cards have been shown so far, as many as the last four tournaments combined
Fans have been furious at the officiating and the decisions to continually hand out red cards
‘AFCON is an absolute joke,’ one fan wrote on Twitter. ‘Referees are spoiling the tournament man.’
Another disgruntled follower of the tournament wrote: ‘These referees at AFCON 2021 have given me more than enough reason to discontinue watching the tournament. Officiating at its lowest.’
The dismissal of Vozinha was the 13th so far in this instalment of the tournament, as many as in the previous four AFCONs combined.
Twitter has been awash with vitriol directed towards referees for their decision making so far
Cape Verde controversially had goalkeeper Vozinha sent off for an innocuous challenge
Many of the red cards have been awarded after the fact following the use of the video assistant referee (VAR).
‘AFCON referees should be reminded that they don’t have to issue a red card every time they visit the VAR monitor,’ another angry fan tweeted.
Another added: ‘These referees at AFCON believe visiting a monitor is red card offense, they don’t challenge the VAR decision, pathetic #AFCON2021.’
The decision to send off Vozinha proved highly contentious in Tuesday night’s Senegal-Cape Verde knockout tie, which Senegal won 2-0.
Memes became popular but there was an overwhelming sense of anger towards the referees
All five of the last-16 matches has seen a red card, with the group stage also littered with reds
Vozinha and Mane collided in what appeared to be a 50-50 clash of heads but in a blink of an eye the Blue Sharks found themselves down to nine men.
‘#AFCON2021 refereeing is ridiculous,’ another tweet read. ‘The underdogs are always crippled by the decision of the referees. #SENCPV no red card for the keeper.’
The two dismissals in the Senegal-Cape Verde game mean there has now been at least one sending off in all five of the knockout matches played so far.
Across those five games, seven red cards have been shown.