{"id":26101,"date":"2026-01-19T14:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=26101"},"modified":"2026-01-19T14:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:19:00","slug":"afcon-2026-ends-in-turmoil-fifa-president-calls-senegal-walk-off-unacceptable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/19\/afcon-2026-ends-in-turmoil-fifa-president-calls-senegal-walk-off-unacceptable\/","title":{"rendered":"AFCON 2026 Ends in Turmoil; FIFA President Calls Senegal Walk-Off \u2018Unacceptable\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>RABAT, Morocco (FN)<\/strong> \u2014 The 2026 Africa Cup of Nations concluded Sunday with a dramatic final in Rabat, where Senegal faced Morocco in a tense showdown that descended into chaos after a late video review awarded a penalty to the hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FIFA President Gianni Infantino has condemned the chaotic scenes that marred the Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Morocco, saying Senegal\u2019s brief walk-off protest \u201chas no place in football.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The incident unfolded Sunday in Rabat when Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty after a lengthy video review for a foul on Brahim D\u00edaz. Senegal\u2019s players, furious at the decision, stormed off the field, halting play for nearly 20 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Infantino, who attended the final, said the conduct of Senegal\u2019s players, staff, and supporters was unacceptable. \u201cIt is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe must always respect the decisions taken by the match officials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The penalty, taken by D\u00edaz, was saved by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, keeping the score level at 0-0. Senegal returned to the pitch after intervention from senior players, including captain Sadio Man\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The match eventually resumed and was decided in extra time, when Pape Gueye scored the winning goal to secure Senegal\u2019s second AFCON title. Morocco, the host nation, finished as runners-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Infantino praised Morocco\u2019s organization of the tournament but stressed that the chaotic scenes risked overshadowing the competition. \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 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw later issued an apology, acknowledging that emotions ran high and promising that his team would learn from the incident. \u201cWe regret the way we reacted,\u201d Thiaw said. \u201cIt was not the image we wanted to show.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has opened a disciplinary review into the events, with possible sanctions for both teams. CAF officials said they would examine the conduct of players, staff, and fans during the final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The controversy has reignited debate over the use of video assistant referees in high-stakes matches. Critics argue that lengthy reviews disrupt the flow of play and inflame tensions, while supporters insist VAR ensures fairness in critical decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the turmoil, Senegal\u2019s victory was celebrated across Dakar and beyond, with fans hailing the team\u2019s resilience. Yet Infantino\u2019s stern words underscored FIFA\u2019s determination to uphold discipline and protect football\u2019s integrity on the global stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RABAT, Morocco (FN) \u2014 The 2026 Africa Cup of Nations concluded Sunday with a dramatic final in Rabat, where Senegal faced Morocco in a tense showdown that descended into chaos after a late video review awarded a penalty to the hosts. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has condemned the chaotic scenes that marred the Africa Cup [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":26102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25,4,5,7],"tags":[3971,3977,3973,3978,3980,3972,3969,3981,3974,2719,3970,3975,3968,3976,3979],"class_list":["post-26101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-featured","category-international","category-sports","tag-afcon-2026-final","tag-afcon-2026-rabat","tag-africa-cup-of-nations-news","tag-african-football-headlines","tag-caf-disciplinary-review","tag-fifa-president-infantino","tag-gianni-infantino-fifa-statement","tag-international-football-news","tag-morocco-afcon-2026","tag-morocco-football-team","tag-senegal-afcon-champions","tag-senegal-football-victory","tag-senegal-vs-morocco","tag-var-controversy-afcon","tag-video-assistant-referee-debate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FIFA-President-Speaks-on-AFCON-Final-2026.png?fit=1035%2C316&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26103,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26101\/revisions\/26103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}