Erratic Tunisian referee Slim Jdidi suspended

The Confederation of African Football has, with immediate effect suspended Tunisian referee Slim Jdidi following his poor performance during the semi final tie between Ghana and Burkina Faso at the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit.

 

Jdidi awarded Ghana a debatable penalty in the 13th minute when Madi Panandetiguiri was ruled to have pulled down Christian Atsu as the pair challenged for a header inside the box.

 

Jdidi then ruled out what appeared to be a perfectly legal Prejuce Nakoulma goal in the first half of extra time before sending off Burkinabe star Jonathan Pitroipa for a dive despite the midfielder clearly being tripped in the area.

 

26 year old Pitroipa will only be cleared to play in the final and have his red card rescinded if the referee’s match report reveals that he made a mistake in his judgment (sending off the forward).

 

As per protocol, the Burkina Faso management lodged a complaint to the federation two hours after the game to complain about refereeing during the match.

 

Despite the lackluster level of refereeing during the high level contest, Burkina Faso still came up trumps against a much fancied Ghana outfit and will set up a tantalizing final against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.