The 36 year old Egyptian referee, who officiated the match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Chipolopo of Zambia on Friday January 25th, has been dismissed from the on-going 2013 Africa Cup of Nations as a result of poor officiating.
Ghead Grisha awarded a controversial penalty to Zambia in the 85th minute which enabled them draw level in the group C match. Grisha awarded the spot kick against Onazi Ogenyi for a supposed foul on Emmanuel Mayuka. However, television replays of the tackle on the stadium scoreboard showed clearly that the offence was clearly outside the box, yet the referee went ahead to award a penalty.
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF immediately sent a protest letter to the Confederation of African Football, CAF, asking the football governing body to look into the questionable call by Grisha. After reviewing the action, CAF decided that it was a bad call. “Grisha has been sent home. He will have no further action at this Cup of Nations. His decisions did not tally with best practices of the refereeing profession and we would not allow anyone to start re-writing the rules of the game here.”
“He was sent home because of his mishandling of the match. Isa Hayatou, CAF President, admitted that the penalty call by the referee was wrong. If there was a foul, it was definitely outside the 18-yard-box, and not a penalty. Referees are not allowed to re-write the rule of the game,” Hayatou was quoted to have told the Nigerian delegation.
The was jubilation in Super Eagles camp Monday afternoon as news filtered in that the Egyptian referee who awarded the dubious penalty to allow Zambia equalize has been sent home by CAF. But a top NFF official however insisted that the damage has been done and the sending away of the referee means little as it will not change the result of the match.
