FAF (Algerian Football Federation) doesn’t give up! .On Sunday, May 29 the FAF president Charaf Eddine Amara announces on a Local TV station during an Interview that Algerian file would still be on the table of FIFA after FAF took over FIFA by email again (Ref. No.452/SG/FAF/2022) to introduce an expertise of a specialized agency reputed for having worked with the same authority, but also the IOC, UEFA and the Council of Europe, whose conclusion qualified the arbitration of this match of suspicious and this on a scale of three levels of assessment (normal arbitration, suspicious arbitration and abnormal refereeing).
Meanwhile, the Algerian authority has revealed the contents of the report of the “specialized and reputable agency” that conducted an expert opinion on the refereeing of Mr. Bakary Gassama, last 29 March in Blida vs Cameroon.
According to the experts report:
The imbalance (100% vs 0%) between the two teams for IRDs (wrong calls by the referee) and the total number of high IRDs (3) that directly influenced the outcome, are both much higher than the usual R&Ds standards in Professional football matches.
The validated penalty not whistled (Algeria), the invalid goal accepted (Cameroon) and the validated goal cancelled (Algeria) significantly influenced the game to Cameroon’s advantage.
The validated penalty not whistled (Algeria), the invalid goal accepted (Cameroon) and the validated goal cancelled (Algeria) significantly influenced the game to Cameroon’s advantage.
The validated penalty not whistled (Algeria), the invalid goal accepted (Cameroon) and the validated goal cancelled (Algeria) significantly influenced the game to Cameroon’s advantage.
All IRDs can be explained scientifically in Level 3 report based on video analysis
Further investigations would be needed to determine whether this match was intentional or not at the level of refereeing. “
March – April
It was in the month of march this same year, when the Algerian Football Federation Launched a complaint with FIFA (the international body governing football associations and who is in charge of organizing the world cup) against the Scandalous Arbitration of Bakary Papa Gassama during the match that opposed the Desert Foxes of Algeria to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Algeria where the desert foxes loosed 2-1.
This Match was very Capital to the Algerian team as a victory against Cameroon would have secured their ticket to the Qatar 2022 world Cup. Unfortunately for them, after 120 minutes of game Cameroon emerged victorious with an outstanding but very dreadful goal from Karl Toko Ekambi. This goal was scored when the match was deep into extra time, just remaining few seconds for the referee to sound his whistle for the end of the match. Algeria, who had won the first leg in Cameroon 1-0, were left downcast by the defeat. Djamel Belmadi the coach of the Algerian national Football team was quick to express his frustration.
According to the Algerian Federation of Football the Poor performance of their players was as a result of the scandalous arbitration by Papa Gassama. In a statement by the FAF, they expressed their desire to see the match been replayed under conditions guaranteeing the honesty and partiality of the arbitration. The FAF was and is still determined to use all legally permitted means to have its rights restored and to replay the match.
In response to the complaint lodged with the FIFA Referees Committee concerning the Algeria – Cameroon play-off return match of March 29, 2022 qualifier for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) confirmed the reception on May 06, 2022, correspondence from the said commission, the content of which is as follows:
“We regret that, according to your assessment, the decisions of the referees could have negatively influenced the course of the match. We have taken good note of the elements of your letter and we can already guarantee that all the incidents that occurred during the match have been carefully examined by the two “video” referees, in accordance with the Laws of the Game and the video assistance protocol for arbitration”.
After a clear response from the FIFA arbitration committee backed with provided justifications that seemed very obvious as a clear indication of no match replay, FAF withdrew its complaint to FIFA.
Nevertheless, FAF still has plans to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) according to some reliable sources.
Meanwhile, Cameroon flag was spotted floating in Qatar amongst the flags of the other countries qualified for the world cup.