Referees are ‘spoiling’ AFCON and have turned it into ‘red card’ party – Fans

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.

‘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.

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.

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.