Bongo Ideas, a Ghanaian social media analyst, has stirred new debate by attacking the referee who officiated the contentious encounter between Nigeria and host Morocco.

Daniel Laryea, the centre referee, was heavily criticised during the just concluded match, which terminated Nigeria’s campaign and benefitted the host country.

Bongo Ideas claimed in a widely shared Facebook post that Daniel Laryea’s performance appeared to be impacted before the contest even began.

He wrote:

“— gave cheap fouls to Morocco

— gave Nigerian players (Calvin Bassey) unnecessary yellow

— never gave Morocco players a yellow

— didn’t allow the game to freely flow

— was under immense pressure

— penalty or not Daniel Laryea had a 4/10 game

— AFCON is rigged for host nations to win!

I’m a Ghanaian and also a Ga buh let’s call a spade a spade…that performance from Daniel Laryea felt and looked like he was told what to do on the field before he stepped out. He let Ghana down!”

The tweet sparked significant reaction, with many Nigerians having opposing perspectives on the referee’s actions and the outcome of the match.

See reactions below;

Gold wrote: “I’m a Nigerian but It’s football and the host Nation deserves to get to the finals, Morocco has invested a lot, if it’s easy to be a Host Nation Other African Countries should step and do better.

“Did you see world class stadiums they have?. I don’t know how CAF managed to buy the ref or however it was done, kudos to Morocco they fought hard.”

Rahman wrote: “They should never blame the referee for any reason… Playing 90min + Injury time + 30min extra time with only 2 shots on target…. Do they want the Referee to play the penalty for them?…👆😂😂😂”

Other commentators denied allegations of bias and advised Nigerians to accept the outcome.

BestBoi wrote: “Masa no blame referee, Make Nigeria accept defeat and move on 😂😂😂”

Agulu said: “Who can a Ghanaian even officiate a game in which Nigeria is involved? Definitely obvious.”

Stanley wrote: “Sometimes you no dey make sense one bit but we dey manage am. You refer to an extra time plus penalty shootout match as rigged?”

The argument continues online, with football fans in Africa fiercely divided on the referee’s performance and host governments’ influence in big competitions.

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