Morocco's Coach Defiantly Rejects Claims of Referee Bias Ahead of Semifinals

Morocco's Coach Responds to Allegations of Referee Favoritism

The coach of Morocco, Walid Regragui, has vehemently dismissed suggestions that his team has been receiving favorable decisions from referees during the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted in Morocco. "We are the team to beat. As the team to beat, people will find all sorts of reasons to say that Morocco has an advantage," Regragui stated following his team’s 2-0 victory over Cameroon in the quarterfinals.

He added, "The only advantage Morocco has in this Africa Cup is that we are playing in front of 65,000 spectators. Everything else happens on the field; we speak on the field." The coach emphasized that his team created more opportunities than their opponents and noted that no goals had been disallowed for Cameroon or any other teams.

Regragui acknowledged that there were instances where Cameroon could have been awarded penalties, but referee Dahane Beida made decisions in favor of the host team. "Statistics always show us as being better than others," he concluded. Morocco is set to compete in the semifinals either against Nigeria or Algeria on January 18 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.