Patrice Motsepe Gives Telling Reaction to Allegations Against CAF Referees’ Chief During AFCON Final
- CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe dodged a question around an allegation against Olivier Safari Kabene
- CAF referees' chief Kabene was alleged to have instructed Jean-Jacques Ndala not to book Senegal stars
- The accusations cited the final moments of the AFCON 2025 final when Senegal players returned to the pitch
CAF President dodged a question relating to allegations against the Referees' Chief about an incident in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final.
The AFCON 2025 ended in controversy after the winners, Senegal, had earlier walked out in the match to protest against the referee's decision to award a late penalty to Morocco.
Source: Getty Images
The match was halted temporarily before Sadio Mane told his teammates to return to the pitch, a leadership gesture CAF acknowledged.
Pape Gueye scored the winner in the extra time after Brhim Diaz missed the penalty, and controversy ensued afterwards, which still lingers on in African football.
CAF sanctioned Senegal and Morocco, but FRMF appealed, leading to Senegal getting stripped of the title and Morocco getting a walkover 3-0 victory.
However, away from that, another controversy came up that CAF referees' chief, Olivier Safari Kabene, admitted to bad conduct.
According to Africa Soccer, the Congolese reportedly admitted that he told his compatriot Jean-Jacques Ndala not to book Senegal players after they returned to the pitch to continue the match.
The allegation constitutes a serious breach of the regulation, but weeks later, there has yet to be an official resolution on Kabene’s self-indictment.
Motsepe quiet over Kabene’s conduct
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe recently visited Senegal and Morocco in a bid to de-escalate tensions in African football after the AFCON final incident.
He held press conferences in both countries, and during his media segment in Morocco, a local journalist asked him about the allegations against Kabene.
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Motsepe dodged the question and asked CAF's acting General Secretary Samson Adamu to respond, describing it as “fire”.
“General secretary, why don’t you jump into the fire?” Motsepe told CAF TV.
Motsepe’s reaction to dodge the question speaks volumes about the catastrophe that the aftermath of the final has created in the African football governing body.
“If I'm correct, your question is asking if CAF is going to suspend or CAF is going to make a decision concerning Mr Olivier Safari,” the Nigerian responded.
Source: Getty Images
“As the president has said concerning the situation, CAF is following the process entirely until it's done, until then, CAF is only going to concentrate on making sure that we go through the process all the way to the end, and there's nothing whatsoever about taking a decision concerning any of the issues you mentioned right now.”
Adamu navigated the question brilliantly, but his superior passing it on to him leaves more questions than answered.
FIFA drops Jean-Jacques Ndala
Legit.ng reported that FIFA dropped AFCON final referee Jean-Jacques Ndala from the list of match officials for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Ndala was not the only high-profile African referee not selected for the tournament. Senegal's Issa Sy and Mali’s Boubou Traoré were also dropped.
Source: Legit.ng
