CAF Fines Burkina Faso Captain for Referee Criticism After Algeria Match

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has issued a decision to impose a financial fine on Burkina Faso national team captain, Bertrand Traoré, following his statements made after the match against Algeria in the second round of the group stage of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Burkinabe Football Federation (FBF) published a statement on its official Facebook account, which read: “Following the statements made by Burkina Faso national team captain, Bertrand Traoré, after the match between Algeria and Burkina Faso, the CAF Disciplinary Committee heard the player.”

It added: “After the Stallions' captain presented his apology and expressed his regret before the committee, a penalty was decided against him, consisting of a fine of 10,000 US dollars, due to statements deemed offensive during the post-match interview.”

The statement concluded: “The Burkinabe Football Federation affirms that this incident in no way affects Bertrand Traoré's commitment, professionalism, and determination to give his utmost on the field and help his teammates achieve better results.”

Traoré had criticized the refereeing after the match, stating: “Referees are ruining the Africa Cup of Nations, and this is regrettable for African football, despite the beautiful stadiums and wonderful fans. We lost to Algeria because of a penalty, but I believe I also deserved a penalty during the match.”