Guinea players banned for insulting AFCON referee
Two Equatorial Guinea players have been banned for insulting a referee at the Africa Cup of Nations and Burkina Faso captain Bertrand Traore was fined for post-match remarks, the respective football federations reported.
Equatorial Guinea captain Carlos Akapo and midfielder Josete Miranda have each been banned for four games for swearing at referee Messie Nkounou of Congo after their 1-0 loss to Sudan in Casablanca last weekend which left them bottom of Group E.
Two of the matches have been suspended for the period of a year, the federation said.
The suspensions began on Friday (AEDT) when Equatorial Guinea faced Algeria in its last group match in Rabat, which it lost 3-1.
Traore, who plays for Sunderland, was fined US$10,000 ($14,985) for “offensive remarks” he made in an interview after Algeria’s 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in Rabat.
“It's a shame, we lost 1-0 to a penalty. I think there was a penalty on me in the very first action of the match,” Traore said. “The referees are ruining the game. And then, at the end, the referee [swear word] me."
Traore expressed regret after being charged by the Confederation of African Football, according to the Burkinabe federation.
