Morocco’s football federation has announced it will pursue legal action over the chaotic and controversial Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday based on a belief that the decision of Senegal’s players to leave the pitch, causing a 15-minute delay, had a material impact on the result.
Senegal secured their second Afcon title via a 1-0 victory at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, Pape Gueye scoring the only goal on 94 minutes. But that came after an incredible denouement to normal time with Morocco awarded a penalty when El Hadji Malick Diouf was penalised, following a video assistant referee review, for a pull on Brahim Díaz as he defended a corner.
That led to the majority of Senegal’s players, upon instructions from their manager, Pape Thiaw, walking off in protest. They eventually returned and, soon after, Brahim Díaz took the hosts’ spot-kick, only to miss after failing with a horrendously executed Panenka. Gueye made the Real Madrid man pay for his inexplicable indiscretion.
Díaz has apologised for his miss, describing it as a failure that had left his soul hurting and would be difficult to recover from. But there is clearly a feeling within Morocco that the 26-year-old’s head had been scrambled by Senegal’s actions and that the events on Sunday cannot be allowed to rest.
“The Royal Moroccan Football Federation announces that it will pursue legal action with the Confederation of African Football [Caf] and Fifa to rule on the walk-off of the Senegalese national team from the field during the final against the Moroccan national team, as well as on the events surrounding this decision, following the referee’s awarding of a penalty that was deemed correct by all experts,” a statement read. “This situation had a significant impact on the normal course of the match and on the players’ performance.”
Morocco’s head coach, Walid Regragui, criticised Thiaw for leading Senegal’s walk-off, saying: “The image we’ve given of Africa is shameful.” Thiaw later apologised after the game. “After reflecting on it, I made them come back – you can react in the heat of the moment,” he told beIN Sports. “We accept the errors of the referee. We shouldn’t have done it but it’s done and now we present our apologies to football.”
That is likely to be little comfort to Díaz. “My soul hurts,” he said on Monday. “I dreamed of this title thanks to all the love you all gave me, every message, every show of support that made me feel I wasn’t alone. I fought with everything I had, with my heart above all else.
Live coverage of the controversial Africa Cup of Nations final between Morocco and Senegal on Sunday drew an audience of 1.7 million people to E4. The figure represents E4's highest daily share in more than 20 years, with the 19% share of the audience aged between 16 and 34 up by 614% on the average for the same slot on the same channel for the same demographic.
The figures are perhaps not a huge surprise given how the contest unfolded, with Senegal's players storming off the pitch at Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat following the awarding of what they deemed to be a hugely unfair penalty to Morocco two minutes into second-half injury time. They returned some 15 minutes later, at which point Brahim Diaz missed the spot-kick via a shockingly bad Panenka attempt. Senegal then went on to triumph – and secured their second Afcon title – via a 94th-minute goal from Papa Gueye.
The audience size also represents vindication of Channel Four's decision to make Afcon free-to-air in the UK for a very first time. Guardian sport
“Yesterday I failed and I take full responsibility. I apologise from the bottom of my heart. It will be hard for me to recover, because this wound doesn’t heal easily … but I will try. Not for myself, but for everyone who believed in me and for everyone who suffered with me. I will keep going forward until one day I can give you all this love back and become a source of pride for my Moroccan people.”
In a statement Caf made clear its objection to Senegal’s walk-off, describing it as “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” and saying it would be “reviewing all footage and will refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty”.
Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, said: “We strongly condemn the behaviour of some ‘supporters’ as well as some Senegalese players and technical staff members. It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner, and equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport, it is simply not right. We must always respect the decisions taken by the match officials.”
Footage also showed ballboys trying to wrestle a towel from the Senegal reserve goalkeeper Yehvan Diouf that he was trying to give to Édouard Mendy in wet conditions. A Morocco substitute also appeared to try to block Diouf from giving the towel to Senegal’s No 1.
