Guinea’s protest against the qualification of Tanzania for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations has taken a regional dimension. Guinea, from West Africa, got eliminated by East Africa’s Tanzania after their last match ended in a 1-0 defeat for the West African team.
In filing a protest against the alleged fielding of an ineligible player by Tanzania, Guinea also alleged complicity by the match commissioner who is from Kenya which is also in East Africa.
In the protest filed, Guinea claimed that Tanzania brought on a player whose jersey number was not on the official team sheet.
The match sheet
The player wore jersey number 26 but no player was attached to that number in the official team sheet.
According to Guinea’s submission, this is a clear contravention of the rules. The Guinea FA therefore wants CAF to award them the game.
It was further claimed that an attempt to statutorily route the protest through the match commissioner was rebuffed.
At the centre of the controversy is the match commissioner, Francis Oliele of Kenya.
Guinea termed Oliele’s behaviour ‘inexplicable’ as he did not allow them to file complaints at the end of the game.
“He went so far as to ask Guinean officials to go to CAF instead and not to him,” reads a part of Guinea’s appeal. The Michel Dussuyer-coached side is also concerned about why the commissioner and security officer were chosen from Kenya country, which is in the same Zonal Union.
