Guinea further alleges that Kenyan match commissioner, Francis Oliele, was uncooperative after the match when he was approached by Guinea’s officials to make a claim.
East African football giants, Tanzania, celebrations for qualifying for the TOTALENERGIES AFCON 2025 will have to be put on hold after Guinea filed a complaint to Confederation of African Football (CAF). This complaint could potentially lead to Tanzania’s disqualification from the tournament which is set to be held in Morocco.
Guinea who were defeated 1 – 0 by Tanzania in the final Group H on Tuesday, failed to qualify for the tournament after finishing third with nine points.
The Guinea Football Federation allege that in the 73rd minute, Taifa Stars made a substitution, bringing on a player wearing jersey number 26. However, according to the team sheet submitted for the match, no player is listed as jersey number 26. Guinea argues that this violates Article 50 of CAF regulations, which talks about compliance with player registration including matching jersey numbers and proper player identification.
Guinea further alleges that Kenyan match commissioner, Francis Oliele, was uncooperative after the match when he was approached by Guinea’s officials to make a claim. Oliele reportedly told the officials to direct their complaints to CAF instead of addressing it to him.
The Guinea Football Federation also raised concerns about potential bias, noting that both the Match Commissioner and Security Officer were from Kenya, a country in the same regional block(CECAFA) as Tanzania.
It’s not uncommon for controversies like this to arise ahead of major tournaments. Such disputes often center around technicalities, but they rarely result in disqualifications unless clear violations of rules are proven. Guinea may be hoping to exploit any ambiguity in the regulations, but their chances of success will depend entirely on the strength of their case.