Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final will go down in history as one of the sports world’s most dramatic events. It was filled with drama, controversy, bad officiating, terrible decision-making by players and heroic leadership by one captain. What had been a magnificent tournament in Morocco, running over much of December and January, was nearly ruined on Sunday night when two controversial refereeing decisions caused supporters and players of one the finalists, Senegal, to want to abandon the match.
For a full 15 minutes, it looked like the tournament would end in disgrace as the Senegalese returned to their dressing room, refusing to play the last 90 seconds of the game, in protest against what they saw as unfair refereeing. The unprecedented action saw Senegal’s national coach leading the charge — hence bringing “the beautiful game” into disrepute just when the eyes of the entire footballing world were on Africa. He started lobbying that they come back to the field, arguing that no matter how unjust the referee’s decisions were, they did not justify abandoning the game.
Sense eventually prevailed, players returned to the field and Morocco was allowed to take the controversial penalty. But, as fate would have it, the Moroccan player failed to convert the penalty advantage to goal — giving Senegal a new lease of life. It was a sweet ending to a dramatic final where most neutral observers left believing that justice had been done. A lot is going to be said about what transpired in that game for many years to come.
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