Young Africans' "match-fixing" and "administrative error" allegations against Mamelodi Sundowns have gone through the initial test of a CAF and FIFA VAR instructor, in Jerome Damon.
Young Africans wrote a letter of complaint to CAF after they were eliminated in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals via a penalty shootout, in a game that was overshadowed by the controversy of a disallowed Yanga 'goal', with contentions around whether the ball crossed the line or not.
Stephane Aziz Ki's wonder strike beat goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced around the goal-line and back into play.
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Referee Dahane Beida, with the assistance of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), ruled that it was not a goal, sparking debate both in Mzansi and in Tanzania.
"The contest pertains to a possible administrative error and match-fixing incident during the quarter-final match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Young Africans Sports Club (Yanga)," the club wrote in a letter addressed to CAF.
"We allege that the aforementioned actions by the referee team indicate a deliberate attempt to influence the outcome of the match in favor of Mamelodi Sundowns, constituting a serious case of match-fixing. This is further supported by the selective use of VAR, primarily focusing on fouls committed by Young Africans Sports Club (Yanga) for potential red cards, while ignoring a legitimate goal-scoring opportunity," the letter read, in part.
Damon, a former referee and currently a CAF and FIFA VAR instructor, says it's going to be hard for Yanga to prove those allegations.
"They need to bring evidence to support their allegations. It's a big deal for the people of Tanzania and South Africa. But unfortunately, we cannot go around blaming and making such (allegations)," Damon said on 947's MSW.
"If you think about it, this is the same referee, he has just come off refereeing the AFCON final. As a referee aspiring to referee at the World Cup, ask any referee who is on this journey, they would do everything to ensure that they stay on the straight path, without being dissuaded in any way.
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"And any referee at this level, under such scrutiny, with so many angles, would want to get it right, best humanly possible, and I think on the day the refereeing team did a very good job and the VAR team did an exceptional job," Damon added.
Yanga coach Miguel Gamondi also claimed that they were "robbed" after the highly-charged match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
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