Egyptian Referee at Nigeria vs Zambia Still Working At AFCON

The Nigeria Football Federation and officials of the sports ministry misinformed Nigerians about the status of referee Grisha Ghead, the official who was in charge of the match between Zambia and Nigeria in Mbombela.

While the NFF and officials of the ministry of sports claimed that Ghead had been sent home by Caf, it was observed that the Egyptian was the fourth official in Wednesday’s Group D game between Algeria and Cote D’Ivoire in Rustenburg.

In a previous release by the director of media, Demola Olajire, the NFF had claimed that Ghead had been punished by Caf for his poor handling of the encounter between the Super Eagles and the Chipolopolo
where a late penalty call was given to the defending champions.

However, events on Wednesday proved that the football federation had sold a dummy to Nigerians as they tried to shift attention from the team’s inability to win matches.

When contacted, Olajire told Goal.com: "That was the impression that Caf gave us [that he had been suspended]."

After the news broke last week in Nigerian media circles, Goal.com sent an email to the Caf Media Channel but never got a response.