ALGERIA – CAMEROON FOOTBALL. After several days of study, Algeria’s appeal was rejected by Fifa, which should not communicate publicly.
End clap for the Fennecs. Following the appeal filed by the Algerian Federation, FIFA communicated to the latter that the appeal filed for suspicion of corruption was rejected. In its press release, the FAF states that the FIFA committee sent it the following message: “We regret that, according to your assessment, the decisions of the referees could have negatively influenced the course of the match. We have taken due note of the elements of your mail and we can already guarantee that all the incidents occurring during the match have been carefully examined by the two ‘video’ referees, in accordance with the Laws of the Game and the video assistance protocol at arbitration”. According to information from RMC Sport, the FAF withdrew its complaint to the disciplinary committee of the world body, and preferred to settle for an explanation from the arbitration committee concerning the decisions taken by Bakary Gassama.
Samuel Eto’o’s response to Djamel Belmadi’s accusations
Following the remarks, the president of the Cameroonian Federation Samuel Eto’o took the floor and threatened the coach with legal action. The Cameroonian Football Federation expresses its deep concern following the remarks made on April 24, 2022 by Mr. Djamel Belmadi, the coach-selector of the Fennecs of Algeria, following the match counting for the play-offs Africa Zone of the Cup World Cup Qatar 2022, dropped the Cameroonian body via a communicated signed by President Samuel Eto’o. […] Cameroon reserves the right to bring the matter before the FIFA Ethics Commission in the coming days. Fécafoot disputes these defamatory allegations instilled in an allusive manner and repeatedly formulated by Algerian football leaders, continued the body chaired by Samuel Eto’o in its document published Monday evening. It regrets that the persistence of this long-term controversy is likely to provoke incidents similar to the verbal aggression suffered by Cameroonian officials on April 1 in Doha on the sidelines of the draw of the world Cup Qatar 2022.”
Proven corruption?
The bomb was dropped by an Egyptian journalist Maher Genina a few weeks ago. According to the specialist of the On Time Sports channel, “FIFA’s investigation has taken another turn with new elements in favor of Algeria”. The journalist referred to a compromising audio recording, adding that “FIFA is currently investigating the case of a referee who received a sum of money by transfer to his account via a company belonging to a president of a federation whose selection is qualified for the next world cup”.
The match replayed, what decision from Fifa?
Several scenarios are possible after the appeal filed by Algeria:
- FIFA finds insufficient evidence and/or considers errors intriguing and Algeria will stay well at home for the next World Cup
- FIFA considers that the errors are too substantial and in this case the participation of Algeria in the next World Cup is still possible because the match could be replayed
- Suspicions on the referee of the match and in this case, the match will be replayed
- FIFA reports proven corruption and in this case, the match could directly be given to the Algerians with a victory on green carpet. The Fennecs would therefore be qualified for the next World Cup in place of Cameroon.