Chairs used as weapons as footage shows Senegal fans and stewards fight as AFCON violence spills onto pitch and riot police called
Riot police were called to the Africa Cup of Nations final after some disturbing fan violence in the closing stages of normal time.
Fury was sparked in the Senegal camp after host nation Morocco were awarded a controversial penalty deep into stoppage-time in Rabat.
El Hadji Malick Diouf was penalised for pulling down Brahim Diaz in the Senegal box, prompting Senegal manager Pape Thiaw to order his players off the pitch.
The incident came shortly after Senegal had seen a goal of their own ruled out earlier in stoppage time.
Some of the Senegal players even stormed down the tunnel but after several minutes made their way back onto the field of play.
And in even more dramatic circumstances, which led to stoppage-time last for 24 minutes, Diaz missed the resulting spot-kick with a poorly taken Panenka penalty which was easily caught by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
There was plenty of bad blood between the players and coaches of the two nations, and footage shows there were some very unsavoury scenes in the stands too.
A section of the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium where some of the Senegal fans were housed saw Senegal fans clashing with stewards.
In even more shocking scenes chairs were used as weapons in the mayhem as the violence spilled onto the pitch.
Things later calmed down but riot police were later seen gathering in front of the section where the crowd trouble originated from as the rest of the match continued.
Reacting to the chaotic scenes on E4’s live coverage, former Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel admitted: “For African football, this is a shameful end to this tournament… I don’t know who is the winner.”
He added: “I can understand their frustration but walking off the pitch is not what I want to see.”
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