Egypt legend Mido praises CAF President Ahmad over crackdown on corrupt referees

Former Tottenham Hotspurs striker Mido has hailed CAF President Ahmad Ahmad for the crackdown on bad refereeing in Africa insisting, corrupt match officials have assisted undeserving clubs to win titles on the continent.

Egypt legend says the Malagasy leader of Africa's football governing body must be supported in his campaign to weed out bad match officials, claiming they are wrecking the beauty of the game on the continent with intentional bad decisions.

The striker, who also played for Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam, reveals that Ahmad inherited a rotten culture of bad officiating and his quest to clean that up is 'highly commendable'.

Ahmad has been embarking on a course of ridding the game of corrupt officials since taking charge of CAF two years ago with several match officials banned while others are facing hearings over their performances in recent matches.

A top match official was temporarily suspended this week by CAF with serious allegations of corruption in a high profile match he officiated in the continent's club competition.

The Caf Disciplinary Board suspended Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe over allegations of corruption, violation of Caf statutes, Regulations and Disciplinary code.

In a letter dated November 16 addressed to the Caf General Secretary, the highly rated match official is punished in regards to how he handled the Caf Champions League match between Tunisia’s Esperance and Angola’s Primeiro de Agosto.

Mido has responded to the recent actions by CAF saying Ahmad must take the credit for the recent actions against errant referees in Africa.

"It is a great tribute to Ahmad Ahmad, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), for his fight against the corruption of some referees in Africa and to expose them to everyone," Mido wrote on Twitter.

"The man inherited rampant corruption of many years within CAF," Mido said pointing out that this corruption has given titles to some clubs title not on merit.

"One of our honourable referees in Africa complained about the fact that he was bribed by the President of the Mazembe Club and he was punished and excluded from refereeing of any African match.

"To advance the game in Africa, we must fight corruption.

"We must support Ahmad Ahmad in his fight against the corruption of some referees so that there is real justice among all."

CAF has decided to suspend Algerian Mehdi Obeid Charef, who was in charge of the final leg of the African Champions League final between Al Ahli and Esperance of Tunisia.

Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe, who officiated the semi-final between Esperance and Primero de Augusto, has also been suspended.