Article 82 of CAF Regulation for AFCON- Abandonment/Refusal to Play: Specifies that if a team leaves the pitch, refuses to play, or withdraws from a match without the referee’s permission, they are considered to have lost the match. This rule applies “for any reason whatsoever”.
What happened in the Afcon final?
With the scoreline 0-0, referee Jean Jacques Ndala gave a spot-kick in the eighth minute of added time.
Ndala was advised by the video assistant referee (VAR) to consult the pitchside monitor and review defender El Hadji Malick Diouf’s challenge on Diaz.
Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw, still incensed by Ndala’s decision a few moments earlier to disallow a Senegal goal from Ismaila Sarr, ushered his team off the field.
Former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane stayed on the pitch and tried to encourage his Senegal team-mates to finish the game.
After a 17-minute delay, Senegal’s players did eventually return.
Real Madrid forward Diaz was trusted with the penalty, but his tame ‘Panenka’ effort was caught by Senegal keeper Edouard Mendy who barely had to move, and Ndala immediately blew his whistle for full-time.
Villarreal midfielder Gueye then scored the winning goal in the fourth minute of extra time to seal a second triumph in five years for Senegal.
In his post-match news conference, Morocco coach Walid Regragui said Senegal’s actions were “shameful” and do not “honour Africa”.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino strongly condemned the “ugly scenes” in a post on Instagram.
Thiaw, meanwhile, had his media briefing cancelled after a ruckus broke out in the press room.
But in a later post-match interview he accepted that he should not have ordered his team off the field and he had reacted “in the heat of the moment”.
Morocco subsequently parted company with head coach Walid Regragui on 5 March – four months before the World Cup finals.
Culled from BBC Sport
