Khaberni - French media reports revealed that the Moroccan Football Federation accused the Congolese, Jean Jacques Ndala, referee of the Senegal match in the Africa Cup of Nations final, of receiving instructions not to penalize the Senegalese players after their withdrawal during the match.
Some Senegalese players withdrew from the field against Morocco in the African final in Rabat, protesting against the awarding of a penalty to Morocco in stoppage time of regular time and the cancellation of a goal for the Lions of Teranga just seconds before the match ended with the Senegalese winning 1-0.
Two months later, the African Football Confederation Appeals Committee withdrew the title from Senegal and declared Morocco the winner by 3-0, based on regulations that state that the team "which refuses to play or leaves the field before the end of regular time of the match" is considered to have lost and is disqualified from the tournament, although the disciplinary committee fined a number of officials from both teams previously, but it did not change the result of the final match.
The French "Le Monde" reported that Morocco in its 40-page submission clarified that Congolese Olivier Safari, head of the referees committee in the federation, admitted during the executive committee meeting last February that institutional instructions were given during the stoppage of the match to the referee not to penalize the Senegalese players with a yellow card, which would have led to the dismissal of Senegalese players who had already received a previous warning, in order to keep the match on track when they returned to the pitch.
The Senegalese government demanded in an official statement after the withdrawal of the title for "an independent international investigation due to suspicions of corruption within the African Football Confederation (CAF)," following the decision of the continental union's appeal body to withdraw the Africa Cup title won by Senegal and award it to Morocco.
Marie Rose Cadi Faitou Faye, spokesperson for the Senegalese government, said, "Senegal categorically rejects this unjustified attempt to strip it of its title," two months after the chaotic final, which the Lions of Teranga won 1-0 after extra time.
