Senegal leaving the field to protest referee decisions before winning the Africa Cup of Nations title\u00a0amid shocking chaos\u00a0was \u201cunacceptable,\u201d FIFA president\u00a0Gianni Infantino said\u00a0Monday.<\/p>\n
Infantino criticized the Senegal coaches, players and some fans for their behavior at the end of regulation time against host nation Morocco, which was astonishing for the final of an international competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ugly scenes witnessed (Sunday) must be condemned and never repeated,\u201d the FIFA leader posted on his Instagram account after attending the game in Rabat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expect that the relevant disciplinary bodies at CAF (the Confederation of African Football) will take the appropriate measures,\u201d Infantino wrote.<\/p>\n
CAF also described the incidents as unacceptable in a later statement, and said it is \u201creviewing all footage and will refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n
That legal path was not enough for the Moroccan soccer federation, which reacted to losing its home tournament \u2014 four years before it co-hosts the 2030 World Cup \u2014 with an\u00a0unusual demand Monday.<\/p>\n
The Moroccan federation said it would pursue legal action with CAF and FIFA about the Senegal players leaving the field in protest that forced a 15-minute stop in a game they would go on to win 1-0 in extra time.<\/p>\n
Senegal coach Pape Thiaw faces severe sanctions for his part in leading these players back to the locker room when Morocco was awarded a penalty in stoppage time at the end of regulation time. The spot-kick would eventually be missed in bizarre circumstances.<\/p>\n
It is unclear if any ban imposed on Thiaw would apply just in future African competitions or at FIFA’s World Cup in North America. Senegal starts its World Cup playing France on June 16 at MetLife Stadium near New York, where it also plays Norway six days later.<\/p>\n
Senegal\u2019s team and fans were angered by being denied what shaped as a title-winning goal early in stoppage time of a 0-0 draw when the referee called a foul to rule out the goal.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, Morocco was awarded a penalty after a video review which judged star forward Brahim Diaz had been pulled to the ground by a Senegal defender when a corner was taken.<\/p>\n
The controversial decision further fueled a feeling by Morocco\u2019s opponents that the team was\u00a0getting favourable decisions\u00a0at a tournament which has been a showcase for co-hosting the 2030 World Cup for FIFA.<\/p>\n
Thiaw encouraged his players to leave the field and so prevent Diaz from taking the penalty kick that could decide the title. Senegal fans clashed with police at the other end of the stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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,\u201d Infantino wrote.<\/p>\n
FIFA urges respect for rules<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must always respect the decisions taken by the match officials on and off the field of play,\u201d the FIFA president added. \u201cTeams must compete on the pitch and within the Laws of the Game, because anything less puts the very essence of football at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morocco coach Walid Regragui later called the incidents a \u201cshameful\u201d image of African soccer for the rest of the world to see.<\/p>\n
When the players returned, and in the remarkable 24th minute of stoppage time, Diaz took one of the worst penalties in soccer history.<\/p>\n
The Real Madrid forward’s slow chip shot \u2014 known as a Panenka, after the Czech player who did it 50 years ago to win the European title against West Germany \u2014 was weak, low and easily saved by Senegal goalkeeper \u00c9douard Mendy.<\/p>\n
Diaz posted an apology\u00a0to Morocco fans on social media Monday.<\/p>\n
The game went into extra time, and Senegal won it four minutes in with a powerful shot by Pape Gueye.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy best wishes as well to Abdoulaye Fall, president of the Senegalese Football Association, and to everyone involved in this success,\u201d Infantino wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also the responsibility of teams and players,\u201d he said, \u201cto act responsibly and set the right example for fans in the stadiums and millions watching around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Morocco soccer federation \u2014 led by one of the most influential officials in world soccer, CAF first vice president and FIFA Council member Fouzi Lekjaa \u2014 asked those soccer bodies to rule on the Senegal team’s walk off and the events surrounding it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation has had a significant impact on the normal flow of the match and on the players\u2019 performance,\u201d the federation said.<\/p>\n
In sports law, decisions of the referee on the field of play typically stand and are not re-litigated later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senegal leaving the field to protest referee decisions before winning the Africa Cup of Nations title\u00a0amid shocking chaos\u00a0was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-419775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}