'Even my grandmother would have blown for penalty' - Egypt coach blasts referees, VAR after loss

Published: January 11, 2022

Egypt's Portuguese head coach Carlos Queiroz has questioned the use of video assistant referee after his side were allegedly denied a penalty during their 1-0 loss to Nigeria in Tuesday's Group D clash at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

Ten minutes to the end of the game, the Egyptian players pressurized Bakary Gassama to award a penalty after Moses Simon slipped and brought down Zizo but the Gambian official disagreed, ruling that the foul was committed by the Zamalek winger.

The video assistant referee reviewed the incident and agreed with the decision of the onfield official.

Queiroz blasted the VAR decision that potentially cost the North Africans a draw, adding that his granny would have spotted the foul and awarded a penalty.

In quotes relayed by Africa Foot United, Queiroz said : "In the second half, there was a penalty very clear for us that the referee did not whistle, and the VAR did not intervene.

"Maybe at that time the VAR was not working. There was clearly a penalty. It was not our day, it was also not a good day for refereeing.

"Even my grandmother would have blown for this penalty on the fault on our player. It's a disaster because there are referees from VAR.

"This is unacceptable. Watch the action yourself. It's amazing that with all these referees, no one indicated the fault".

With their toughest game in the group out of the way, Nigeria can now shift attention to facing Sudan this coming Saturday, with a win guaranteeing them a spot in the knockout round.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : cafonline.com

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