#africa-cup-of-nations

#africa-cup-of-nations

For the defence of the rights and interests of Senegalese football, the federation will engage, with the shortest delay, an appeal procedure before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. We will not back down. The law is on our side.

With the score 0-0 in the eighth minute of stoppage time in Rabat, referee Jean-Jacques Ndala awarded Morocco a penalty for a challenge by El Hadji Malick Diouf on Brahim Diaz. Moments earlier, Ndala had ruled out a Senegal goal. After the penalty was given, Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw encouraged his team to leave the field in protest, with only Sadio Mane remaining.

The Confederation of African Football said its appeals board ruled that Senegal is "declared to have forfeited the final" and its 1-0 win in extra time becomes a 3-0 default win for host nation Morocco. Senegal later said it would appeal the decision, but did not indicate where. One such avenue is the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based independent body which settles sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation.

The 63-year-old will leave his current managerial role with Cypriot club APEA Akrotiri to take up the position on 16 March. Constantine had a spell in charge of Rwanda from May 2014 to January 2015 before he left to manage India.

McCarthy says Manchester United didn't pursue a deal for Nigeria striker and 2023 African player of the year, Victor Osimhen, because they didn't want to sign a player they would lose to Afcon for two months in the middle of a Premier League season.

After a hearing that lasted more than five hours, the presiding judge ruled that the fans -- 18 Senegalese and a French national -- were guilty of more than half a dozen charges, including damaging sporting facilities and committing violence during a sporting event. Eleven people were sentenced to one year in prison and handed a $550 fine. Four were sentenced to six months and given a $218 fine. The remaining four were sentenced to three months and a $130 fine, lawyer Naima El Guellaf told The Associated Press.

The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will take place in June and July next year, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) president Patrice Motsepe has announced. The South African said reports that the tournament, co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, would be delayed or moved were "totally unfounded". Doubts have been raised over whether the necessary infrastructure in the three East African countries will be ready in time to stage the finals.

I remembered walking through the Big Apple, watching as Senegalese rickshaw drivers gathered around to watch the game on their phone, and as Algerian street vendors cried in mirth seeing their team win the trophy after 29 years. And I realized that, apart from the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, there wasn't a better place in the world to watch the AFCON Final than New York City.

Image source, Getty Images In a controversy-filled Africa Cup of Nations final, Brahim Diaz's attempt to bring some calm only added to the chaos. Around 17 minutes passed between Morocco being awarded a penalty, deep into stoppage time, and Diaz beginning his run-up. The Real Madrid forward slowed as he approached the ball and dinked the ball down the middle but goalkeeper Edouard Mendy didn't move, comfortably caught it and the game went to extra-time with Senegal emerging victorious.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsenal missed the opportunity to go nine points clear at the top of the table with a 0-0 draw away at Nottingham Forest. The Gunners missed several opportunities to take the lead, but the main talking point was a penalty incident that was cleared by VAR following a brief check. Mikel Arteta spoke very strongly about the handball incident at full-time.

Sometimes a tournament's greatest strength can be its greatest weakness. In part because of the excellent playing conditions, this has been an Africa Cup of Nations devoid of shocks. The better teams keep winning. There has been a lot of good football, but not a huge amount of memorable football. And the consequence is that, in the final, we have the two best teams, or certainly the best team in north Africa against the best team in sub-Saharan Africa:

This year's Africa Cup of Nations, or Afcon, has been dominated by the continent's big teams. Mohammed Salah and Victor Osimhen helped Nigeria and Egypt reach the semi-finals, while the likes of Achraf Hakimi and Sadio Mane will face off when hosts Morocco take on Senegal in the final. With Africa's superstars seemingly in top form, can they keep it up at this summer's World Cup - and could an African nation finally go all the way,