AFCON: Nigerian Man Breaks Down Alleged Officiating Bias in Super Eagles vs Morocco Match
- A Nigerian football fan accused match officials of bias after Nigeria lost to Morocco on penalties in the AFCON semi-final
- He criticised referee Daniel Nii Laryea’s decisions, citing incidents he believed unfairly favoured the host nation
- The fan urged Nigeria to host a future AFCON, arguing home advantage was key to winning the tournament
A Nigerian football fan has passionately spoken about the bias he had noticed during the just-concluded AFCON semi-finals between Nigeria and Morocco.
The Super Eagles lost another AFCON semi-final, falling to hosts Morocco on penalties in a clash of African giants on January 14.
Source: Getty Images
A Nigerian man's criticism centred on the officiating referee, a Ghanaian named Daniel Nii Ayi Laryea, and he also declared tha Nigeria would have won the match against Morocco.
The unnamed supporter, speaking in a TikTok video shortly after the match on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, accused the referees of bias in favour of the host nation, a trend he claimed guaranteed them victory.
AFCON: Did bias affect Nigeria's semi-final loss?
Noticing the trend, he cited past wins by host nations in previous AFCON tournaments.
In his words:
"The way the AFCON is going now, it is the hosting team that are winning it."
He described the semi-final against Morocco as a "firsthand robbery," pointing to specific moments of perceived bias. He highlighted an incident in which a Moroccan player allegedly escaped a clear yellow card, and another in which a foul on the Nigerian player during a promising counter-attack went unpunished.
Source: TikTok
His comment was on Calvin Bassey and Brahim Diaz. Calvin Bassey was given a yellow card for a foul on Brahim Diaz, but according to replays, it was actually the Real Madrid star who pulled the Super Eagles defender’s shirt.
Watch the moment in the video below:
The decision should have gone in Super Eagle's favour, so it was questionable to see Bassey being penalised and handed a yellow card.
"You look this match wey Morocco play like this... you see 120 minutes of what you watch, Morocco no get one yellow card. One!" he exclaimed in frustration.
Nigeria's strikers too hesitant in the semi-final
While placing most of the blame on officiating, the fan also criticised the Super Eagles' strikers, Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen, for being too hesitant and failing to "take half chances." He did, however, single out defenders Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi for praise, calling them the team's best performers.
His final message was a direct appeal to the Nigerian government to do what it could to host the next AFCON tournament in order to stand a chance of winning beyond the semi-finals.
"If you want to win the AFCON, you host it," he stated. "Work on the country so that we can go and host our own. Let us rob our own robbery too... so that they will favour us, so that we can win."
The video has resonated with many Nigerian fans, reflecting a deep-seated frustration with the team's exit and a widespread suspicion of biased officiating in major tournaments.
Watch the TikTok video below:
AFCON: Man's revelation before Nigeria vs Morocco
Legit.ng had earlier reported that hours before the kick-off of Nigeria's AFCON match with Morocco, a man went public with a revelation he had.
The man said he never wanted to talk about it, but the spirit of God kept pushing him to speak.
He said he saw a lot of goals in the match and spoke about the team that eventually won the much-anticipated semi-final game.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
