Carlos Akapo and Josete Miranda Face Suspension After Referee Abuse

Equatorial Guinea’s captain Carlos Akapo and teammate Josete Miranda will miss their nation’s final group match at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) due to suspension.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has imposed a four-game suspension on both players for verbally abusing the referee following their team’s 1-0 defeat to Sudan. This decision was made by a Caf disciplinary panel after reviewing the referee’s report regarding the incident during the Group E match on Sunday, which resulted in Equatorial Guinea’s elimination from the tournament.

Referee Messie Jessie Nkounkou Mvoutou reported that the two players “repeatedly uttered insulting and obscene remarks” towards him and his officiating crew after the match concluded. He noted that while these comments were made in a moment of intense frustration over the loss, they nonetheless represented a significant violation of the principles of respect and fair play, as outlined in Caf’s disciplinary regulations.

Two matches of Akapo and Miranda’s respective bans have been suspended for a period of one year.

Consequently, both players will be unavailable for the National Thunder’s final group encounter against Algeria, scheduled for Wednesday at 16:00 GMT.

In addition, the Equatorial Guinea Football Federation (Feguifut) has been fined $10,000 (£7,435) due to “excessive and abusive protests” made by its technical staff and players in response to officiating decisions. Mvoutou’s report indicated that there was a “progressive deterioration in behaviour on the sidelines” following an own goal scored by defender Saul Coco in the 74th minute.

In a separate incident, Caf also fined Burkina Faso captain Bertrand Traore $10,000 (£7,435) for making “offensive remarks” during a post-match interview after his team lost 1-0 to Angola in Group E on the same day.