The referee that officiated the Tunisia and Mali on Wednesday was suffering from heat stroke and severe dehydration and was taken to hospital after the match, according to AFCON officiating officer.
Dailymail reported that Tunisia have appealed for their Group F opener to be replayed after official Janny Sikazwe blew the final whistle after just 85 minutes, then again 17 seconds before 90 minutes were up despite viewers expecting a lengthy period of stoppage-time in an incident-packed game, which ended with Mali 1-0 up.
‘The referee suffered from heat stroke and very severe dehydration, which led to him losing focus and was taken to the hospital,’ Abdel-Fatah told MBC Egypt’s Al-Laib.
‘It caused him to lose time in the 80th minute, and he ended the match in the 85th minute. He returned after directions from the assistant staff and then returned to finish the match in the 89th minute.
‘When the crisis occurred and the objections and control were lost in the match, the fourth referee was the one who was going to complete the match [instead of Sikazwe], but one of the two teams refused.’
