Soccer Football - African Champions League Final - First Leg - Al Ahly vs Esperance Sportive de Tunis - Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt - November 2, 2018 Fans let off flares inside the stadium during the match REUTERS
The Tunisian Football Federation (TFF) has lodged a complaint against Algerian referee Mehdi Abid Charef after his controversy decision during the game between Tunisia's Esperance and Egypt's Ahly in the first leg of the CAF Champions League final at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab Stadium on Friday.
The FTF held an emergency meeting of its disciplinary committee Saturday following the refereeing controversy that engulfed Friday's game.
"We ask the CAF to announce immediate decisions against the Algerian referee after his bad performance during the game," read a TFF statement.
Ahly took a comfortable first leg advantage after beating Esperance 3-1 at Borg El-Arab, thanks to two penalties from winger Walid Soliman and a goal from midfielder Amr El-Sulaya. Youcef Belaili scored Esperance's only goal via another spot-kick in the second half.
Algerian referee Mehdi Abid Charef consulted the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) after awarding Ahly the two penalties. He stood by his original decisions on both occasions, to the dismay of Esperance players who thought the penalties were harsh.
"We also ask the CAF to review all the referee's decisions that affected Esperance players," the TFF statement read.
"We ask the Confederation of the African Football to suspend Ahly's Moroccan striker Waldi Azaro from taking part in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final in Tunisia as he didn't respect the sports' charter after assaulting a Esperance player," the statement added.
The second leg will take place in Rades, Tunis, on Friday.
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