Referees officiating this year’s edition of the African Cup of Nations(CAF) have been warned against manipulating matches.

CAF director of legal affairs Felix Majani said the match officials were briefed on the fight against match fixing and manipulation,

68 referees, assistant referees and video referees were briefed to ensure fair play during the tournament that is ongoing in Cote d’Ivoire.

He further explained the importance of upholding integrity in football, he warned referees about the risks of match manipulation and consequences involved in such act.

“We aimed to remind match officials not to comprise with these values throughout the competition,” said Majani.”As the boss of the match, the referee is the main target of the match manipulators, ready to offer all sorts of rewards to get a result of their advantage. We are delighted with the exchanges with which the referees actively participated in the session.”

Head of referees and technology at CAF Desire Noumandiez Doue added: “The referees taking part in this edition represent the cream of the top continent, and it is important to ensure that they understand the issues surrounding the biggest event on the continent.”

The values of integrity are crucial in the preserving the beauty of the game, even if with the exceptional training on the game.

The 34th edition of African Cup Nations is ongoing in Cote D’Ivoire.  Today’s matches are Morrocco vs Tanzania at 5pm and DR Congo vs Zambia at 8pm.

On Tuesday,  scores were as follows; Burkina Faso 1-0 Mauritana,Tunisia 0 – 1 Namibia and Mali 2 -0 South Africa .

Namibia’s Deon Hotto scored the 88th minute goal to hand the win against Tunisia. Mali took advantage of an early let off to beat South Africa 2-0 and take the lead in group E.

After Percy Tau missed the penalty for South Africa the Mali captain, Hamari Traore, broke the deadlock after an hour and Lassine Sinayoko added a second six minutes later.

The ongoing tournament has drawn fans across the world, each fan supporting the team of their choice to win the African cup of nations.