The referee who made headlines in Bafana Bafana’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ghana, has once again been in the spotlight after allegedly pushing a player at the African Cup of Nations.
Maguette Ndiaye found himself in hot water after his officiating in the Bafana-Ghana was questioned by the South African Football Association, who accused him of match manipulation.
However, SAFA’s protest was ruled out by FIFA based on a technicality, leading to Diaye also being part the referees at AFCON.
On Sunday, Ndiaye was officiating the quarter-final between Egypt and Morocco, which the Pharaos won 2-1 after scoring the winner in extra-time.
The incident happened in the 77th minute when a brawl between both sets of players happened following a foul of Egypt forward Mostafa Mohamed on Achraf Hakimi.
Ndiaye came into the scuffle and wanted to break up the altercation but appeared to push Morocco’s Munir El Haddadi, who went to the ground holding his face.
“Is he going to yellow card himself?” the co-commentator said about the weird incident.
Ndiaye managed to regain order, showing both Mohamed and Hakimi a yellow card, while Munir avoided a booking.
Egypt ended up 2-1 winners in extra-time thanks to a goal and an assist by Mohamed Salah. The Pharaohs will now face hosts Cameroon in Wednesday’s semi-final.
