Motsepe fails to deny AFCON 2025 final referee interference claims

Patrice Motsepe’s remarks at a press conference in Senegal in response to a question about possible interference by referees’ committee Chairman Olivier Safari, have raised questions.

Rather than explicitly denying the allegations that instructions had been given to the referee (particularly regarding yellow cards), the CAF president chose to defer the response to his secretary general.

The latter limited himself to noting that the Confederation of African Football was following an ongoing procedure, without confirming or denying the facts in question.

Question: Some reports suggest that the head of the refereeing committee, Olivier Savary, said he prevented the referee from issuing yellow cards in the final. Will CAF take any action against Savary, such as suspending him or not?

Answer: Motsepe: Mr. Secretary General, please answer this question… throw yourself into the fire. Did you hear the question?

Secretary General: Yes. Your question concerns whether CAF will suspend or take any action against Olivier Savary. As the President mentioned regarding this situation, CAF is following the process until the decision is finalized. Then, CAF will ensure that all procedures have been properly followed to the end, and there is currently no decision related to the cases you referred to.

The lack of a clear denial, combined with cautious communication focused on respecting disciplinary processes, thus fuels speculation about possible interference in the refereeing of the match.