On Saturday, FIFA rejected an appeal by its Algerian counterpart for a replay against Cameroon in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier, stressing that “the case has been closed.”
The Desert Warriors won 1-0 in Cameroon but lost 2-1 after extending the second leg with a last-breath goal from Karl-Toko Ekambi (120+4), after they scored in the 118th minute, which was enough to take them to the World Cup in Qatar at the end of this year.
On 31 March, the Algerian Federation announced that it had filed an appeal with FIFA and demanded a replay of the match due to “officiating by Gambian referee Bacary Gassama”.
But FIFA’s refereeing committee rejected the request, according to a letter released on Saturday by the Algerian Federation.
The committee said: “We regret that, in your opinion, the decisions of the referees may have a negative impact on the course of the match. All incidents that occurred during the match were carefully examined by video referees in accordance with the Rules of the Game and VAR protocol.
In contact with Agence France-Presse, FIFA confirmed that the Algerian federation had filed a complaint with the disciplinary committee of the international organization and requested comments from the referee committee.
A FIFA spokesman told AFP on Saturday: FIFA has responded to the Algerian federation on the two issues and the case is considered closed.
Algerian coach Djamel Belmadi has repeatedly criticized the refereeing of this match in particular and the African continent as a whole.
FIFA fined the Algerian federation 3,000 Swiss francs for throwing projectiles and lighting smoke bombs during the second leg in Blida.
