Following the recent decision by the Confédération africaine de football appeal jury to revoke Sénégal‘s continental title due to the events of the January 19 final against Maroc, FIFA has now handed down a significant individual sanction.
The match official, Jean-Jacques Ndala, has been officially excluded from the roster for this summer’s World Cup. Although he maintains the support of the Confédération africaine de football—which continues to appoint him for African Champions League and CAF Cup fixtures—the world governing body for football has decided to omit him from their selection.
In contrast, the FIFA refereeing committee has selected seven other African officials who all served during the last CAN. This list features Jalal Jayed from Maroc, Mustapha Ghorbal from Algérie, Pierre Atcho from Gabon, Dahane Beida from Mauritanie, Tom Abongile from Afrique du Sud, Amin Mohamed from Égypte, and Omar Artan from Somalie.
The referee acted under specific directives
The removal of Jean-Jacques Ndala from the world stage is not a total shock to the footballing community. His handling of the CAN final drew intense scrutiny, with many analysts condemning his passive approach and several highly debated calls during the game.
During an executive committee session held on February 13 in Dar es-Salaam, Olivier Safari, the chairman of the CAF refereeing committee, revealed that the Congolese official had received specific orders during a match interruption. He was reportedly told to avoid issuing second yellow cards to Sénégal players who had retreated to the dressing rooms. This directive was intended to “save the match” by preventing the expulsion of two players who were already on a caution before they stepped back onto the pitch.
