The refereeing during Friday night's thrilling African Cup of Nations matched between co-hosts Gabon and Morocco was truely weak. At least three gruesome two-footed and flying tackles deserved straight cards but the ref appeared determined not to offend anyone, ignoring some bad fouls altogether and reluctantly handing out a yellow card or two to the worst miscreants.
Played on a poor surface, both teams flew into challenges and the referee lost control of the game, allowing players to foul at will. Temperatures rose and fell at the whim of the players, not under the guiding hand of the ref.
That said, he was not able to put a dampener on an effervescent match that ended with Gabon - playing in front of a packed home crowd that included the country's president - scoring the winning goal out five in the 98th minute. In the 91st minute the referee risked a lynching by awarding a penalty against Gabon for a handball that looked far from deliberate. But 8 minutes time added on? That's a lot.
Gabon have now qualified for the last 16 of the tournament, but back in Europe, managers of prize African palyers must be looking at these games witha grimace. Chamakh of Arsenal and Kalou of Chelsea have already fallen to injuries and illness - hopefully not too extreme - but the risk of the long-term loss of a major international player is serious with such wild challenges going unpunished.
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