Somali Referee Loses Ksh154,000 After Costly Blunder at AFCON 2025

At the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, referees are among those earning a tidy sum but one of them missed out on a good payday after he was axed from a high stakes match.

Ahead of Nigeria’s quarter-final match against Algeria on Saturday, Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was the man selected to officiate the match but he would be axed a day to the game over a costly blunder.

Artan is one of the most respected and highly regarded match officials in Africa and was named African Referee of the Year at the 2025 CAF Awards late last year.

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However, his hopes of officiating the high stakes quarter-final match were dashed when tournament organisers Confederation of African Football (CAF) axed him from the game because he was spotted wearing boots from a brand not approved by the tournament’s official sponsors during an earlier game.

As per Daily Sport, that was considered a breach of rules and therefore saw the referee removed from the game which was won by Nigeria, who outclassed the Desert Foxes by beating them 2-0 to set up a mouth-watering semi-final with host nation Morocco.

However, Artan seems to have dodged a bullet as Senegalese referee Issa Sy, who replaced him, officiated an ill-tempered match that saw him nearly attacked by Algerian players after the game as they protested against some of his decision, including what they claimed to be a denied penalty.

Sy, and his assistants, who included Kenyan Peter Waweru Kamaku, who served as the fourth official, had to be escorted to the dressing room as Algeria players and some members of the technical bench accosted him after the game.

The removal, however, hurt Artan in the pocket given referees are believed to be earing $1,200 (Ksh154,800) per match at AFCON which he missed out on.

It is not certain if the highly rated referee will be back to AFCON duties in subsequent matches after serving the ‘one-match ban.’