Afcon 2021: African fans slam referee Sikazwe after bizarre Tunisia vs Mali performance
Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe was at the centre of controversy in the Africa Cup of Nations match between Mali and Tunisia on Wednesday afternoon at the Omnisport Stadium in Limbe.
Ibrahima Kone struck the lone goal in the 48th minute from the penalty spot to hand the Eagles maximum points in Group F.
However, the official made massive errors in the game, twice blowing his whistle for full-time before the 90th minute.
The 42-year-old initially blew his whistle to indicate the end of the match in the 85h minute, before play resumed. But again, the official ended the game with around 17 seconds of normal time still on the clock, sparking outrage from Tunisia's players and coaching staff, who were attempting to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
Later, he blew the final whistle for a third time when the Tunisian players decided not to return to the pitch to play the remaining minutes of the match.
Fans and supporters have now taken to their respective social media accounts to express themselves after the mistakes.
Janny Sikazwe is never going to referee a soccer game again, period. He never should have been refereeing this one to begin with. What happened in the Tunisia Mali game was an absolute mockery of the game
— Frankie (@CaptainKnots888) January 13, 2022
I'm having a Janny Sikazwe type of day at work looool
— Gen. Patreus (@Djvngxbawa) January 13, 2022
I had to see it to believe, difficult to think how the experinced Zambian Ref Janny Sikazwe will recover from this, unfortunately this could be what he is remembered for.👇#AFCON2022 #Sikazwe #JannySikazwe pic.twitter.com/wYUz66xI0c
— Javas Nkambule (@javasnkambule) January 13, 2022
Janny Sikazwe stopped the match for a 5min cooling break but apparently didn’t stop his watch. His watch ran to 90mins while the actual time was 85mins, that’s why he ended the match at 85mins. He got confused playing 4mins (making it 89mins) was added time. Witchcraft.
— Erasmus (@ErasmusMweene) January 13, 2022
#CAF should investigate to what was wrong with among of the best referee in African football Janny Sikazwe in #AFCON2021
— Peter Mwaihola (@mwaiholapeter) January 13, 2022
Okay I haven't said anything till I saw Janny Sikazwe's reaction closely, all that chaos muli nobuloshi😶
— Solwezi beans/honey business🤝🏻 (@TChisakula) January 13, 2022
Because why would anyone do that twice for that matter?
Something wasn't right I'm truly worried for him and his career.
#AFCON2021
— Peter Mwaihola (@mwaiholapeter) January 13, 2022
Despite the Dramatic incident happened to Janny Sikazwe, he still among of the best referee in African football ✍️
The standards of football displayed so far in AFCON is not bad. Ref Janny Sikazwe is good. No doubt about that.
— @nkerettanyi , BCOM (Accounting ) , HDM .... (@mulongoosa) January 13, 2022
AT THIS POINT I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THERE IS A VALID EXPLANATION TO JANNY SIKAZWE MISTAKES YES NOT ONE BUT MANY MISTAKES LAST NIGHT! AND YES I AM SCREAMING AS I SAY THIS...#OffTheBenchWithTHALU
— ThaluMukupa🇿🇲 (@officialthalu) January 13, 2022
Yesterdays refereeing y Janny Sikazwe just shows we all have our off days. Would love to hear his side though. Watch problem?
— iGerald (@Gerald_495) January 13, 2022
The thing about this #TUNMLI event is that it's the only opportunity for the referee to get popular across the world. See how everyone is talking about Sikazwe.
— Mr. Stiga (@Godfred_Stiga) January 13, 2022
Yagye sika. 😂
Have you ever seen a football game that ends in 85 minutes?
— WENHAO ZHANG (@WENHAO111) January 12, 2022
In the 1-0 African Cup match between Mali and Tunisia, the referee sounded the whistle of the end of the game in 85 minutes. Janny sikazwe, the referee of this game, was suspended for corruption before.#Africancup pic.twitter.com/cuhQkBWlIW
AFCON is boring. AFCON is boring.
— Dracula Morningstar (@NjotuPower) January 12, 2022
Zambian Ref Janny Sikazwe: pic.twitter.com/LWK00XIEft
It took Janny sikazwe years to build his CV and only one bad day to destroy it.
— Muzondi the Great👑 (@ndhlovu_ackson) January 12, 2022
Let's mind every step we make.
💯
What if they used juju on Janny Sikazwe, coz he has been one of the best referees in Africa
— BLVCK KING 🇿🇲 🍏🍏🍏 (@Psalmist115) January 12, 2022