Nasser Sadek - Al Jazeera Net
Ethiopian international referee Mamlak Tesema has washed away the mistakes of his Algerian predecessor, Mehdi Obeid Charef, and saved the reputation of African refereeing for his brilliance in managing the return leg of the Champions League final that ended on Friday with Esperance 3-0.
Tesema dominated the match and, with Gabonese referee Garry Gassama in charge of video technology, succeeded in judging important refereeing cases.
Tesema's high concentration appeared in the 19th minute when the ball touched Al Ahly inadvertently after falling to the ground inside his penalty area, and the referee indicated no offense.
The referee and his assistant for Esperance's video did not go for a penalty in the 33rd minute due to a natural merger inside the Al-Ahly penalty area, which resulted in the fall of the Esperance striker.
Tesema went out of the Football Code several times in favor of the match by attracting Espérance players who had fallen on the pitch more than once in the second half to lose time. He also came out in the 90th minute off the pitch to come back and resume playing quickly.
Algerian referee Mehdi Charef Obaid has sparked controversy after making several mistakes during the face of going in Egypt.