“I’m not blaming the referees” – Thierry Henry’s opinion on poor officiating at the AFCON 2025

France and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has weighed in on the cause of poor refereeing decisions that occurred at the AFCON 2025 tournament, Soccernet.ng reports.

This comes after the Senegalese team initially walked off at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in the AFCON final against Morocco over questionable officiation.

However, it wasn't their first. There were questionable calls in the semi-final against Nigeria, the quarter-final against Cameroon, and even in the opening AFCON game against Comoros.

Henry said he is a big fan of the tournament, adding that he has been watching the AFCON since 1988 — 38 years ago.

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Thierry Henry slams poor officiating at AFCON 2025

The former AS Monaco forward praised Morocco for the infrastructure put in place to host an amazing tournament. Watch Thierry Henry’s comment on poor officiating here.

“I watched the AFCON growing up, from 1988, which was hosted by Morocco, and I watched the just-concluded AFCON as well.

“The competition was outstanding, Morocco did a great job in terms of the infrastructure, the Stadium, and the hotels were all excellent,” the 48-year-old said on punditry duties with CBS Sports Golazo.

However, Henry wasn't pleased with Senegal's decision to walk off the pitch against Morocco in the final.

“Moving to the final, what you saw, the reaction of the Senegalese team wanting to leave the field was wrong,” the former Juventus winger continued, echoing Rio Ferdinand's thoughts.

“It's not the image you want to give, not only for African football, but for any football you don't want to see or do that.

“Do I understand the frustration? Yes. They believe they scored a goal, and then, after the penalty was given, they walked off. That happened quickly.

“Some of the guys went inside, Mane called them back, Brahim Diaz missed the penalty, trying to do a Panenka.

“The act is not what you want to see. It's nice to see Sadio Mane win it.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup winner also urged CAF to educate African referees, faulting the governing body of African football for not levelling up the education of their officials.

“For me, you don't want to see the team leave the pitch. The way they went about it wasn't right, but it shouldn't define how the tournament was conducted.

“The only thing I would say after watching several AFCON tournaments is that the referees are not at the level of the show.

“The things that have happened over time are due to officiating mistakes, and I'm not blaming the referee; I blame the people who don't train them to be at the level of football we're watching.

“It was a great tournament, it became a bit more interesting after the quarter finals.

One-time UEFA Champions League winner with Liverpool, Jamie Carragher, suggested the inclusion of European referees at the AFCON, but Henry's knee-jerk reaction was a straight negative, telling the Scouser that African tournaments are for African referees.

“You have to give African referees a chance.

“It is an African tournament, and African referees have to be in charge. I'm talking about sending someone to take them to a certain level because you can see there are mistakes all the time, and it tarnishes the image of the tournament a bit.

“People always blame the tournament, but it's not the tournament's fault, not the players' fault, not the team's fault.

“The officiating needs to change if they want to have a better tournament,” the EURO 2000 winner concluded.