"His decision is inexplicable, I can not understand," sighs coach Mondher Kebaier.

"We will see the decisions that will follow," he continues in a statement which augurs well for Tunisian steps to challenge the result.

Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe may well enter the legend of African football ...

Tunisia risks a penalty for refusing to resume the match.

But "the players were in the ice bath for 35 minutes" and "we are asked to come back", protests the Tunisian coach.

Mali players at the end of their match won against Tunisia at the African Cup of Nations on January 12, 2022 in Limbé, Cameroon Issouf SANOGO AFP

At the end of the afternoon, the African Football Confederation (CAF) had not reacted, announcing only the delay of three quarters of an hour of the kick-off of the next match, Mauritania-Gambia, scheduled on the same ground.

"Never seen a situation like this"

Sikazwe twice stopped the match too early, and when the fourth referee returned to the pitch to correct the mistake, only the Malians were present, the Tunisians refusing to play the final seconds of regulation time and the hypothetical additional time. .

After whistling for the first time, in the 85th minute, faced with the strong reaction of the Tunisian bench explaining that there was still a lot of time to equalize, the Zambian seemed to transform this stop into a cool break, as if to hide his mistake.

Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe during an Arab Cup match between the United Arab Emirates and Syria in Doha on November 30, 2021 KARIM JAAFAR AFP / Archive

Then he gave a last whistle a few seconds before the end of regulation time.

This time it is the entire Tunisian delegation which explodes with rage, Kebaier frantically waving his watch under the noses of the officials.

"It deprives us of seven or eight minutes of additional time, and we were playing eleven against ten" since the exclusion of El Bilal Touré (87th), protests the coach.

"I've been in football for almost 30 years, I've never seen a situation like this ..."

The referee quartet must go out under security escort in the face of the anger of the Carthage Eagles.

An experienced referee

The fourth referee came back well, without Sikazwe, to restart the match, but only the Mali Eagles were on the lawn of the Limbé stadium, those of Carthage did not reappear.

"We were told to come back on the pitch because the match was not over, explained Mali coach Mohamed Magassouba, unfortunately the other team did not want to come back and the final whistle was given."

Funny scene, the press conference was however interrupted by CAF officials, followed by a member of the Tunisian staff, asking to wait until the match was over.

Zambian Janny Sikazwe is however an experienced referee.

Selected for his fifth CAN, he also participated in the 2018 World Cup and refereed African club cup finals.

Accused of corruption by the Angolan club Primeiro de Agosto after a match riddled with arbitration errors against Esperance de Tunis, in November 2018, he was cleared by the CAF disciplinary committee.

Wednesday in Limbé, Sikazwe had already been at the center of a very lively match, in the heat (35 ° C) and humidity (65%), whistling two similar hands in the area.

The joy of the Malian striker Ibrahima Koné, after opening the scoring on penalty against Tunisia, during their group match of the African Cup of Nations, January 12, 2022 in Limbé, Cameroon Issouf SANOGO AFP

On that of Ellyes Skhiri, Ibrahima Koné (48th) transformed the penalty for Mali;

on that of Moussa Djenepo, goalkeeper Ibrahim Mounkoro deflected the shot from Wahbi Khazri (77th).

At the very end of the match, the referee also excluded El Bilal Touré, who came into play for a few minutes, for a sole behind Saïf-Eddine Khaoui (87th).

Sikazwe man of the match.

© 2022 AFP