The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has reportedly dismissed its Director of Refereeing, Désiré Noumandiez Doué, in the wake of bitter fallout from the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) final that saw Nigeria crowned champions for the tenth time.

Tension rose after Morocco were denied what they felt was a clear penalty, and things got worse when the Super Falcons were given what they called a “soft” spot-kick. The North Africans were frustrated, saying the call in their favour was wrongly ignored.

In its complaint, the FRMF attached video clips on a CD to highlight what it described as glaring officiating mistakes, a clear penalty denied to Morocco.

A controversial penalty was awarded to Nigeria. Additional calls that were “highly debatable” and influenced the match’s momentum.

Speaking with ESPN, Morocco’s head coach, Jorge Vilda, expressed his frustration, saying, “We saw images that showed clear contact, but the referee overturned her call. It impacted our players psychologically. It was a massive blow.”

Doué didn’t officiate the match directly, but as CAF’s refereeing chief, he was responsible for appointing the match officials and overseeing refereeing standards. The final was handled by Namibia’s Antsino Twanyanyukwa, with assistants from Rwanda and Senegal, while Salima Mukansanga was in charge of VAR.

 Nigeria went unbeaten and lifted the WAFCON trophy for the tenth time after a comeback from a 2-0 deficit at half-time. Morocco took the early lead through their captain Ghizlane Chebbak in the 12th minute and Sanaâ Mssoudy in the 24th minute.