Just as top football stars, breakout stars, and top teams make a tournament what it is, the standard of officiating is also a decisive factor in the credibility and success of a tournament as massive as the Africa Cup of Nations.
After eight days of action, it has been an exciting Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Ivory Coast, with the officiating standards highly impressive just as the minnows have risen to the occasion.
With 57 goals scored and six penalties awarded so far in the tournament, there have been very few complaints about the AFCON 2023 officiating.
The level of officiating has a commensurate measure to the quality of football on display at the tournament; minnows stepping into the kitchen with the big guns demanding all the smoke – crunch tackles, rhythmic sleek passing football, breathtaking goals – a testament to the improvement of the quality of football in Africa.
Led by inspirational captain and all-time leading goalscorer, Ryan Mendes and striker, Bebe, Cape Verde are unarguably the surprise of the tournament thus far, having won all two games to qualify for the knockout round and guaranteed top spot in a group that has four-time champions, Ghana and seven-time champions, Egypt.
Equatorial Guinea topping a group that has former champions, Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria is another surprise offering at the tourney, just as Mozambique were seconds aways from a victory over Egypt.
Another minnow that has impressed is Namibia, who registered a historic maiden win at the Africa Cup of Nations in the opener against Tunisia.
AFCON 2023 officiating has been consistent, with the referees keeping it simple and managing the games well. With the last round of group matches on the horizon, officiating will take the spotlight again as teams jostle for spots at the knockout stages
There have been many decisions that in other tournaments would have drawn the ire of the players and fans, but the competition is yet to witness a situation where the referees or VAR has been the centre of attraction.
Arguably, the only disagreement with the officiating thus far will be the penalty awarded to South Africa against Mali, whose resultant miss by Percy Tau can be described as justice served.
The use of technology – VAR – has been spot on unlike the controversies often generated in European football leagues such as the Premier League.
The quality of football at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations has been great especially from the minnows, just as the standard of officiating has been stellar; if maintained, the tournament will not only produce a worthy winner but may end up being the best edition of the tournament ever.
