The CAF Appeal Board has sparked outrage by stripping Senegal of their AFCON title and awarding Morocco a 3-0 "boardroom" win. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
COMMENT
PRETTY SAD TO SAY, but only in Africa, right?
I mean, where else in the world would the result of a continental championship be reversed, as has just been done by CAF? And then we wonder why the likes of Jamie Carragher have the gall to say our Africa Cup of Nations is ‘NOT’ a major tournament.
The decision by the CAF’s Appeal Board to award Morocco a 3–0 victory over a Senegal team that had beaten them 1–0 in extra time of the final in Rabat mid-January perpetuates the notion — particularly by Europeans, who continue to look down on us — that we are below amateurish.
Football matches should be decided on the pitch, not in the boardroom.
Yes, it was unsporting that Senegal walked off the pitch in protest of what they felt was favouritism towards the host nation, which culminated in that penalty kick being awarded to Morocco. And as per the rules of the game, the Lions of Teranga essentially forfeited that match. It is a basic rule of the game we knew even as kids during a kick-about on the street.
But a lot of things happened that night to legitimise that match; hence this Appeal Board’s decision to now declare Morocco champions is laughable. For starters, the referee on the night did not end the match upon the Senegalese walking off the pitch, which he should have done.
The Moroccans themselves nullified the forfeiture by continuing with play once Sadio Mane had convinced his teammates to return to the pitch, the Atlas Lions clearly of the belief they’d convert that penalty and then go on to be victorious in a tournament that seemed designed for them to win.
Brahim Diaz failed with his attempted panenka and the tables turned, with Pape Gueye scoring what turned out to be the winner, and CAF duly awarded Senegal their trophy, medals and the prize money.
Will Senegal lose their second star. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
What are they going to do now that their Appeal Board has declared the Moroccans — who appealed some time after the effect — champions?
Are they going to demand that Senegal return everything?
Why did Morocco not appeal immediately?
Better still, why was it that they did not launch a protest after Senegal returned to the pitch in the knowledge that walking off constitutes forfeiture as per Article 84, which the Appeal Board used to come up with this decision of overturning the result?
Senegal are not going to take this lying down after declaring the decision "a grossly illegal and profoundly unjust decision". They have confirmed they will approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which, in my view, should rule in their favour.
"Senegal will pursue all appropriate legal avenues, including before the competent international courts, to ensure that justice is served and that the primacy of sporting results is restored, Senegla's government spokeswoman Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye said on Wednesday.
I wrote back then that this year’s AFCON was made for Morocco to win, just as the 1950 Fifa World Cup was designed for Brazil. Unfortunately, on both occasions, someone came to the party and soiled the carpet. And now, the Appeal Board has gone and "cleaned" up the mess by giving Morocco this undeserved, hollow 3-0 victory.
Decades later — should things remain — when young ones see the result for Morocco, they will wonder just how great the Atlas Lions team was and try to find out who the scorers were. Shamefully, there would be no names on the scoresheet.
Surely, African football can do way better administratively than this.
What do CAF President Patrice Motsepe and his Fifa counterparts and friends now feel, having smiled and hugged the Senegal players while giving them their gold medals and the trophy?
They evidently agreed that the match was legitimate, embarrassed as they might have been by Senegal’s walk off the pitch.
Why did they allow the match to continue if the rules say a walk-off is tantamount to forfeiture?
And why did they let Morocco protest much later after the fact?
As I, and many on the continent, felt from the onset — this was a tournament designed to ensure Morocco end their half-century AFCON title drought. And it was supposed to happen, by hook or crook.
A pity it just makes Africa the game’s laughing stock. And it gives racists who believe nothing good can come out of our continent extra ammunition.