Senegal demands ‘corruption’ probe over AFCON decision

Several Senegalese players controversially walked off the pitch in Rabat during the final on January 18 in protest when the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.

After Senegal’s players eventually returned having been coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, Morocco missed the penalty and Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time that gave his team a 1-0 victory.

After a Morocco appeal asked the governing body to study competition rules, CAF recorded a 3-0 victory in favour of the tournament hosts on Tuesday, sparking uproar in Dakar.

“By calling into question a result achieved at the end of a match that was properly played and won in accordance with the rules of the game, the CAF seriously undermines its own credibility”, Senegalese government spokeswoman Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye said in a statement.

“Senegal unequivocally rejects this unjustified attempt at dispossession” she added, while calling for “an independent international investigation into suspected corruption within the CAF’s governing bodies”.

The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations, which state that if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered (loser) and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition”.

The articles add the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match by 3-0”.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said late on Tuesday that its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.

In a further statement on Wednesday it added: “This decision helps clarify the rules applicable in similar situations and contributes to the coherence and credibility of international competitions, in particular when it comes to African football.”

Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAF president Patrice Motsepe stressed his support for the right of African countries to make appeals to CAS, saying African football’s governing body would “respect the decision which is taken at the highest level”.

“Not a single country in Africa will be treated in a manner which is more preferential or more advantageous or more favourable than any other,” Motsepe said in a video message posted on social media.

CHAOTIC SCENES

Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest the penalty awarded to Morocco.

The controversial spot-kick was given by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala right at the end of the allotted eight added minutes in normal time following a VAR check for a challenge on Brahim Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.

The game was goalless at the time and Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with the spot-kick, eventually taken in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time.

But Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted ‘Panenka’ chip by the Real Madrid winger.

The game went to extra time before Gueye’s brilliant 94th-minute winner.

Motsepe added: “It is important for us that ordinary supporters in every one of the 54 counries in Africa… regard the decisions of our judicial bodies as fair and they regard our referees, VAR operators and commissioners as people who are fair and just.”

Several Senegal players posted on social media after Tuesday’s announcement.

Lyon defender Moussa Niakhate posted a picture of himself lifting the Africa Cup of Nations trophy with a message saying “they’re mad” apparently in reference to CAF.

In the immediate aftermath of the final, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who attended the match, had condemned “some Senegal players” for the “unacceptable scenes”.

The appeal trial of 18 Senegalese supporters, imprisoned since the final and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to one year has been postponed until March 30.

Senegal football fans slammed AFCON’S decision to strip the country of its Africa Cup of Nations title and give it to Morocco, calling the move a “disgrace for Africa” as they woke up to the news on Wednesday.

Gora Ndiaye, a resident of Dakar who works as a chauffeur, told AFP he felt like he had “been hit over the head” when he heard the news on the radio.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) sensationally stripped Senegal of their title late on Tuesday, citing regulations about leaving the field, which members did during the end of the final match two months ago.

With the news ricocheting across social media and the airwaves on Wednesday fans now wait for a promised appeal by their country’s football authorities.

“If this law was applicable, it should have been applied immediately and the cup should have been awarded to the Moroccans” Ndiaye said, calling the move “a disgrace for Africa”.

Several Senegalese players controversially walked off the pitch in Rabat during the final on 18 January in protest when the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.

After Senegal’s players eventually returned having been coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, Morocco missed the penalty and Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time that gave his team a 1-0 victory.

CAF said that having studied an appeal by Morocco, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.

“I started by laughing and being surprised at the same time, because it really shocked me that two months later they took away our victory”, Assietou Diallo, a 25-year-old accounting assistant, told AFP from downtown Dakar.

Senegalese press was unanimous, with headlines such as “Big Continental Farce”, “Joke of the Century” and “Unprecedented Scandal”.

WAITING FOR APPEAL

Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), condemning what they said was an “unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision”.

In the meantime, Senegal fans maintain that even if stripped of the trophy, they are still the true victors in the eyes of spectators.

“We played and we won”, Senegal supporter Khola Diouf told AFP from Dakar, pointing to Morocco’s missed penalty in the final moments of the game, adding that “the whole world is witnessing and knows that Senegal deserves the cup”.

The trophy, said Ndiaye the driver, “is an object” and even “if we give it to the Moroccans, you have to know that Senegal beat them on the field”.

Issac Ndiaye, an administrative officer in Dakar, was more circumspect, and did not find the AFCON decision totally unexpected.

“I’m not too surprised. The Senegalese reaction was a bit excessive”, the 38-year-old told AFP. “I think that at the AFCON, the only person who was clear-headed was Sadio Mane”.

The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations, which state if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered (loser) and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition”.

The articles add the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match by 3-0”.