{"id":22645,"date":"2026-01-20T12:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T10:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/senegals-afcon-celebrations-overshadowed-by-threat-of-sanctions\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:33:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:33:35","slug":"senegals-afcon-celebrations-overshadowed-by-threat-of-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/senegals-afcon-celebrations-overshadowed-by-threat-of-sanctions\/","title":{"rendered":"Senegal&#8217;s AFCON celebrations overshadowed by threat of sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Senegal might be celebrating their Africa Cup of Nations (CAF) victory but will anxiously await possible sanctions for their walk-off during Sunday\u2019s final against Morocco.<\/div>\n<div id=\"x_x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Senegal staged a lengthy protest after a penalty awarded in the dying stages of the game to hosts Morocco after a VAR review, walking off the pitch before returning to continue.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Morocco squandered the penalty, taking the match to extra time where Senegal scored to win 1-0 and emerge victorious for a second time in the last three Cup of Nations editions.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But their actions have been widely condemned, including by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the Confederation of African Football. Senegal Coach Pape Bouna Thiaw, who ordered his players off, and some of those who went to the changing room can expect to face disciplinary charges.<\/div>\n<div>\nWith a trip to the World Cup next for Senegal, they will be concerned the manager and key players could be suspended for matches at the finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States in June.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Senegal\u2019s opening two games against France and Norway are in New York.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Thiaw has expressed belated regret for his actions, although a chance to address the post-match press conference after Sunday\u2019s final was quickly ended when he was jeered by Moroccan journalists.<\/div>\n<div>\nBut in a television interview, he said: &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to dwell on the events of the match. In hindsight, I really shouldn\u2019t have told my players to come off.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;I apologise for the sake of football. After further consideration, I brought them back on. We know what happens behind the scenes,&#8221; he added, referring to conspiracy theories around hosts Morocco being favoured by the referee.<\/div>\n<div>\n&#8220;We can react in the heat of the moment, and we must also ask ourselves whether that was a penalty? Now, we accept the referee&#8217;s mistakes; it can happen. We shouldn&#8217;t have done it, but it&#8217;s done. Now, we apologise to football.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>CAF said it was reviewing footage and that disciplinary proceedings will follow, adding that it &#8220;condemns the unacceptable behaviour from some players and officials.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div>\n&#8220;CAF is reviewing all footage and will refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty,&#8221; African football\u2019s governing body said in a statement on Monday.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22428,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,20],"class_list":["post-22645","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Senegal staged a lengthy protest after a penalty awarded to Morocco.","published_date":null,"news_description":"Senegal staged a lengthy protest after a penalty awarded to Morocco.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25871,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/22645\/revisions\/25871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=22645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}