Former French international and Manchester United legend Patrice Evra expressed his strong dissatisfaction on his personal social media with the decision of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to award the Africa Cup of Nations title to Morocco.
"This is a disgrace to African football, a scandal," Evra said, referring to CAF's decision to award the Africa Cup of Nations title to Morocco and strip Senegal of the title. "Morocco did not win in the match, they won the championship almost out of thin air."
"We all saw that Senegal won the game. But why is no one mentioning that referee? Where is he now?" Evra vented his dissatisfaction in his social media video.
In that final match, Senegal won 1-0 in extra time. At the end of regular time, they launched an amazing protest: first, the team protested against the failure to award a penalty to their team, and then expressed anger at the VAR referee's decision to award a penalty to Morocco for almost the same foul. With the exception of Mane, the entire Senegal team left the field to protest for more than 20 minutes, and later returned to the field to continue the game after persuasion from the captain. The penalty was taken, but Brahim Diaz missed.
According to a statement from CAF yesterday, the Senegalese national team violated Articles 82 and 84 of the Africa Cup of Nations regulations. In particular, Article 82 stipulates: "If a team refuses to play or leaves the field early without the referee's permission, it will be deemed a forfeit."
Clearly very annoyed, Evra also questioned the credibility of the match, criticizing the decision for damaging the image of African football.
"The Africa Cup of Nations has completely lost its credibility. Two whole months later, they announce that Morocco are the champions... I thought it was an April Fool's joke ," he said sarcastically. "The real champion is Senegal, and that will never change."