The PM of Senegal describes the AFCON final incidents as “deplorable”
Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko described the events that transpired during Morocco and Senegal’s African Cup of Nations final as “deplorable” and “painful” on Monday.
His remarks preceded potential Confederation of African Football punishment against his country after Senegal’s players left the field in protest of a VAR-awarded penalty before coming back to defeat hosts Morocco 1-0 in extra time.
After the penalty call, a group of Senegalese supporters attempted to protest by entering the field and ran into Moroccan security.
Due to the violence, eighteen Senegalese supporters have been detained and will go on trial in Morocco.
Since the final, both nations’ social media users have exchanged accusations.
One week after the final, Sonko spoke at the beginning of a Moroccan-Senegalese joint commission in Rabat, saying his visit takes place in a setting “charged with sporting emotion, deplorable misconduct and images that have at times been painful for two peoples deeply bound to one another.”
“The misbehaviour observed here and there should neither be denied nor dramatized,” he stated.
The events “should be understood as emotional excesses fuelled by passion, rather than as political or cultural rifts,” according to him.
Ahead of any CAF disciplinary action, the comments were the first time a top Senegalese official has addressed the African Cup final happenings in those terms.
Following the last events, the Moroccan football federation announced that it was taking legal action against FIFA and CAF.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino denounced the actions of Senegal’s players and coaching staff, while CAF promised to take “appropriate action” following an analysis of the match incidents.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye praised Morocco for organizing the tournament and hailed the Senegalese team in Dakar.
One of Morocco’s closest allies on the continent is Senegal. Dakar maintains a consulate in Western Sahara and supports Morocco’s sovereignty over this disputed region.
At the same event, Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch stated that Senegal and Morocco have centuries-old relations, but he did not congratulate Senegal on winning the African Cup.
African fraternity will not be weakened by the “regrettable incidents” that marred the final, according to Morocco’s king, who also declared the tournament a triumph for Africa.
