Referees will assist AFCON hosts Equatorial Guinea to win this year’s competition according to Tunisia players, who have already blamed the refs for their ouster from the tournament.
Tunisia lost 2-1 to Equatorial Guinea on Saturday night in Bata with a dubious penalty decision the main talking points after this quarterfinal.
And now Tunisia defender Bilel Mohsni said he will not be surprised if Equatorial Guinea, ranked 118th in the world, are crowned African champions with the help of the referees as was the case against them on Saturday in Bata.
"If referees carry on this way, I think that Equatorial Guinea will win the cup. The best African players cannot compete with such a referee," said the Tunisia ace
"It is meaningless to come to AFCON to get messed up. If Equatorial Guinea were better, I would have admitted that they deserved it. We were better than them but the referee was better than us. Well done to the referee!
"We are in Africa, and that's because of such games that Africa will never move forward. And it's a pity as us, Europe-based players, are coming here to help our country and Africa improve, to show there are great players who can compete with the rest of the world. But with what happened tonight, we cannot do anything.”
He said they were unfairly treated right from the start of the tournament.
"From the start in Ebebiyin, we saw the hotels of the other teams, comfortable, with big TV screen...We didn't have any TV, no water, no electricity, but ok, no problem,” he said.
"We were travelling in minibus, with very little space and without any air conditionning for three hours, and ok we accepted it.
"And then we arrived here to play against the host country, telling ourselves that there will be a big crowd, a great atmosphere, and we got a referee who was on their side and he killed the party.
"It is logical that at the end, when you get gouged after coming here to play a game of football, people get upset.
“We got screwed by the referee and by CAF and we are very upset.”
Esperance striker Ahmed Akaichi will demand the resignation of CAF president Issa Hayatou after the shambolic events of Saturday.
"It is not normal, everyone watched this game. It puts a big question mark on CAF and on Issa Hayatou. He cannot remain in charge of African football, he must go,” he blasted.
"It is bad for football. The referee did everything for Equatorial Guinea to win."