Morocco coach slams refereeing conspiracy theorists

RABAT—Morocco coach Walid Regragui has poured cold water on conspiracy theorists who suggest referees have been favoring the home team at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Some broadcast pundits and supporters online have bemoaned a perceived leniency towards Morocco from the tournament officials. Regragui dismissed the claims out of hand.

“It’s always a shame to go down this path,” he told a press conference on Tuesday as Morocco prepared to take on Nigeria in their semi-final in Rabat on Wednesday.

“They want to make people believe that matches are always won this way. Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s always been the case on the African continent to sow doubts and controversies.

“You journalists need to do your job,” he added.

“A penalty can be given one way in one match and not in another. A handball is called in one match and not in another. I watch a lot of matches because we have many players in Europe, and the controversies are the same everywhere, in Africa or in Europe.”

Regragui said he believed referees at the tournament were seeking to do their best, but also gave example of incidents in matches where he felt the whistle did not favour Morocco.

He cited two incidents from their impressive 2-0 win over Cameroon in their quarter-final on Friday to illustrate his argument.

“One of their defenders puts his foot on Abde (Ezzalzouli)’s ankle, and if VAR reviews the play, it’s a penalty,” he said.

“The goalkeeper comes out to challenge (Ismael) Saibari and puts both hands in his head, that’s a penalty. But neither were given.”

Regragui said he had told his players to ignore any refereeing controversy.

“The only way to win is on the pitch, by winning our matches. You’ve never heard me talk about the refereeing after a match,” he said.

“We take responsibility, we move forward, and we work hard. That’s the goal. We need to support the referees, the players, and stop always feeling like we’re being wronged.

“We hope the referee will be fair to both teams tomorrow, as he has been since the start of the competition,” the coach added.