Morocco coach angrily rejects AFCON ref bias for hosts before semifinals

Morocco progressed to the semifinals beating Cameroon 2-0 but Indominable Lions felt they had two clear penalties.Published On 10 Jan 2026Morocco coach Walid Regragui has angrily rejected suggestions his team is benefitting from favourable refereeing decisions as the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) host.“We’re the team to beat. As the team to beat, people will try to find all sorts of reasons to say Morocco has an advantage,” Regragui said after his team’s 2-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinals Friday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘I didn’t set out to break records’: Pakistan’s first female MMA fighterlist 2 of 4India-Bangladesh tensions rock cricket, as sport turns diplomatic weaponlist 3 of 4‘Symbol of pride’: DR Congo superfan Mboladinga leaves AFCON as a herolist 4 of 4Bangladesh cricket ‘affected’ by off-field tensions ahead of T20 World Cupend of list“The only advantage that Morocco has at this Africa Cup is playing in front of 65,000 spectators. The rest is on the field, we speak on the field.”On the field, however, Cameroon might have had two penalties if experienced referee Dahane Beida hadn’t decided in favour of the home team.Morocco defender Adam Masina was involved in both, appearing to catch Bryan Mbuemo’s right boot after missing the ball when Cameroon was trying to level the match, then, in the final minutes, appearing to strike Etta Eyong’s head with his elbow in the penalty area.Beida, who refereed the final at the last edition, also decided not to show Bilal El Khannouss a second yellow card for stopping Danny Namaso on a counterattack shortly before Ismael Saibari wrapped up the win.“Many people want to believe or make others believe that we have advantages from the referees. Personally, I saw penalties that could have been awarded to us. As for the referees, I never talk about the referee,” Regragui said.The Morocco coach then spoke about a penalty his team was not awarded against South Africa in the previous tournament in the Ivory Coast, and wrongly said he was “suspended for no reason” at that tournament.