Morocco's Regragui Slams Referee Bias Claims Ahead of Nigeria Semifinal
Morocco coach Walid Regragui has vehemently rejected allegations that his team is benefiting from favorable refereeing decisions, fueling speculation about bias ahead of Wednesday's titanic semifinal against Nigeria. In a heated press conference after Morocco's 2-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinals, Regragui insisted that any perceived advantages his team has are due to playing in front of a massive 65,000-strong crowd at home.
Regragui cited several instances where he believes his team was wronged by referees. Notably, he referenced two disputed penalties: one where Cameroon's Bryan Mbuemo missed the ball after appearing to kick it out, and another where Moroccan defender Adam Masina appeared to strike Cameroon's Etta Eyong with his elbow in the penalty area.
However, Regragui also acknowledged that there were times when his team was denied favorable decisions. He recalled a previous tournament instance where Morocco was awarded a penalty against South Africa after being wrongly suspended. The coach argued that statistics consistently show Morocco as a better-performing team, creating more scoring opportunities than their opponents.
Regragui's comments have sparked debate about refereeing bias at the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), with many speculating that his team is benefiting from favorable calls. When asked to address referee bias, Regragui remained resolute in stating that any perceived advantages are due to playing on home soil.
"I think we deserved our victory," he said. "It's Africa, and there were a lot of physical battles today. I don't think anyone is going to talk about the refereeing because there were so many incidents."
Morocco coach Walid Regragui has vehemently rejected allegations that his team is benefiting from favorable refereeing decisions, fueling speculation about bias ahead of Wednesday's titanic semifinal against Nigeria. In a heated press conference after Morocco's 2-0 win over Cameroon in the quarterfinals, Regragui insisted that any perceived advantages his team has are due to playing in front of a massive 65,000-strong crowd at home.
Regragui cited several instances where he believes his team was wronged by referees. Notably, he referenced two disputed penalties: one where Cameroon's Bryan Mbuemo missed the ball after appearing to kick it out, and another where Moroccan defender Adam Masina appeared to strike Cameroon's Etta Eyong with his elbow in the penalty area.
However, Regragui also acknowledged that there were times when his team was denied favorable decisions. He recalled a previous tournament instance where Morocco was awarded a penalty against South Africa after being wrongly suspended. The coach argued that statistics consistently show Morocco as a better-performing team, creating more scoring opportunities than their opponents.
Regragui's comments have sparked debate about refereeing bias at the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), with many speculating that his team is benefiting from favorable calls. When asked to address referee bias, Regragui remained resolute in stating that any perceived advantages are due to playing on home soil.
"I think we deserved our victory," he said. "It's Africa, and there were a lot of physical battles today. I don't think anyone is going to talk about the refereeing because there were so many incidents."
morocco's got some legit points though, their squad's been performing way better than nigeria in this tournament. it's not just about home crowd advantage, they've got the skill and talent to back it up 
plus, afcon is all about being tough on the pitch, so if regragui says there were a lot of physical battles, i believe him 
I mean, he keeps saying it's all about playing at home and crowd size, but what if those claims are just a bunch of smoke? 
Like, maybe there's some truth to the whole biased refereeing thing? 
On the other hand, how can you trust anything that comes out of Regragui's mouth after he called out Cameroon's refs for being biased against them earlier in the tournament? 
It just feels like we're stuck in this endless cycle of "I don't think so" vs "oh really?" 
Morocco's coach is totally dismissing the whole referee bias thing, but like, doesn't he wanna own up to it? 
But seriously, can't we just have a good game without all the controversy? 
, its not fair that they have to play in front of a huge crowd and everyone expects them to get favours just cuz they're playing at home. the stats show tho that morocco is a better team than nigeria, so i dont think there's anything fishy about the refereeing 
like, i know he wants to deflect from his team's performances but c'mon dude, if u really think ur team is being unfairly judged by the refs then maybe u should talk about how many times u got penalized on the field? 
can't wait to see what happens! 
he's trying to deflect any talk of bias by saying they're a better-performing team, but at the same time he's acknowledging some pretty questionable refereeing decisions. I mean, who hasn't had an off-day with the refs, right? 
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. those penalty decisions tho were super disputed and it's def possible that some refs just weren't having it with Adam Masina 
. what do u guys think? should we be taking this more seriously or is it just a case of sour grapes 
. Not saying he's wrong, but maybe he's just trying to deflect from the fact that Nigeria is actually on fire 
right now! 
. Morocco played well, no doubt about it, but they're also getting a fair share of bad breaks 
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. The real issue here is which team deserves to win, not who's getting more favorable calls 
. I get it, everyone wants their team to get the call 
, but he's right, we can't just assume that Morocco is getting special treatment. I mean, have you seen those stats about how many scoring opportunities they've had in the tournament? It's not like they're getting lucky 
. Let's focus on the match ahead and not get too caught up in speculation 
i mean who wouldn't want a big crowd at home right? 65k strong is crazy! i think it's cool that he brought up stats showing morocco performs better than others, that's some solid evidence 