Hommam Al Nassim 
Morocco criticised the performance of Sudanese referee Mahmoud Ali, who officiated their two-goal loss to South Africa in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday.
After the Atlas Lions bid farewell to the continental championship from the final eighth, criticism began to be directed towards the refereeing team, which included, in addition to Sudanese referee Mahmoud Ali, compatriot Mohamed Abdullah, Cameroonian Guy Nobuye Nguigo, as well as the fourth referee, Rwandan Samuel Oyunda.
The assistant coach of the Moroccan national team, Rachid Ben Mahmoud, pointed to the Sudanese referee’s lack of success in managing the match, pointing out that he provoked anger among the players.
For his part, the captain of the “Atlas Lions”, Romain Saiss, that the team is angry and upset with the performance of the refereeing staff, as he considered that some decisions can significantly affect the course of the match.
Saiss added that things were still ambiguous about the decision to turn down his team’s goal, describing some refereeing lapses as “very blatant and heavy”.
Morocco, a one-time African Cup of Nations winner, lifted the orphan trophy in its vaults in the 1976 edition, failed to break the African knot that haunted it for 48 years, as it bid farewell to the current tournament in Ivory Coast after a painful defeat to South Africa by two goals for nothing.