By Mohammed Korime
CAIRO: The group stage matches of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon ended on Tuesday and referees have had the best performance ever at this stage.
I would like to highlight the following about the group stage refereeing.
Six penalties have been awarded so far, two of them in favour of Tunisia.But the referees failed to award two other penalties that should have been given to Ghana and the other one to Egypt during Group D match that involved both teams.
Another fact is that 59 yellow cards were given and according to the records this is the lowest number of cards to have ever been issued at the group stage in the tournament history.
Thirdly,it is good to note that its only one red card has so far been given and it went to a DR Congo player for a second caution in the same match.
Lastly,I would like to point the following referees who officiated two matches namely, Daniel Bennit from South Africa, Gassama Bakari from Gambia, Tessema Bamlak from Ethiopia and Alioum,a Cameroonian national.
All of them in addition to Gehad Grisha who played the opening match performed well but the most remarkable one is Daniel Bennit in Gabon-Cameroon match because of the difficulty of the match.
Bennit experience has helped him to do a good job.Really he was fair and the fans of the host team never intimidated him.
Good luck to all African referees in the quarter final stage.
About the author: Mohammed Korime is a former Egypt second division player where he featured between 1987 to 1998.He rose to became a referee in 1993.He quitted refereeing in 2012 and became a referee Instructor in 2013.He holds a certificate in referee fitness.
