Disorder, excess and excesses. If the 35th edition of this African Cup were to be marked with the seal of surprise, we did not expect it to be so bad. History, of course, will remember that on this rainy Sunday, Senegal won the title of African champion for the second time in its history. A crowning achievement which does not suffer from any dispute from a sporting point of view, Yassine Bounou having delayed the deadline before giving in to Pape Gueye’s monstrous strike in overtime. But the evening will also remain etched in stone for all the surrounding episodes which will have eclipsed the coronation of a Sadio Mané whose talent and wisdom would have deserved to be highlighted alone.
The excesses of the Senegalese public following the decision of Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo to grant a penalty to Morocco at the end of regulation time indeed took this final into another dimension. That of fear and violence in this case, some of the supporters of the Lions of Teranga not only crying out for injustice, but above all falling into incredible outbursts of violence against the stewards who were trying to contain an invasion of the pitch. Guilty excesses which, failing to calm Pape Thiaw’s troops on the pitch, on the contrary saw the coach ask his players to leave the field as a protest.
“The image we have given of Africa is shameful,” said Regragui at a press conference. A coach who asks his players to withdraw… What Pape did (Editor’s note: Thiaw) is not classy. He had already started at a press conference. Now he is African champion, he can say what he wants. »
Between journalists too, it was tense
A behavior about which the Senegalese coach will make amends a little later in the evening, presenting his “football apologies” and regretting having reacted quickly. “We shouldn’t have done it,” he concluded. We accept refereeing errors, they can happen. »
A late apology that only arrived after the evening took another unexpected turn at a press conference. The provocations, which had also spread to the press gallery during the meeting, continued when Pape Thiaw arrived at the conference to the applause of part of the audience and the whistles of another.
A sudden auditorium that looks like a kop, the bad ones, each defending their selection like an orphan whose ear has been unjustly pulled. The fault, this time, lies with a so-called journalist, who found nothing better than to film his Senegalese colleagues when Thiaw arrived, despite their refusal. It didn’t take much for the tone to rise, names to be exchanged and the room to burst into flames, some of those present choosing to take sides with one or the other of the two camps without really knowing what opposed them. A mess which obviously raised the temperature of the place and piqued nerves already on edge since the episode at the end of regulation time. In an increasingly electric atmosphere, a slight jostling decided the rest of the evening’s communication operations.
Press conference canceled
While Walid Regragui held the media exercise for a quarter of an hour despite the deliberately provocative questions of certain journalists demanding his resignation, while Pape Gueye, elected man of the match, also responded to his obligations, Pape Thiaw will not have the opportunity. To share the emotions of his success, express his joy that Pape Gueye’s missile gave him, also explain the behavior of his players and his own at the moment when Senegal pretended to leave the pitch and why not say more about the exchange, probably tense, that he had with Walid Regragui at the end of the match, the new king of the continent would have had to be able to speak and answer questions from the audience.
Failing to have been able to appease the conflict below, to feel that it was ensuring the safety of the winner of the day on stage, CAF, through one of its press chiefs, made a decision to the point. After having asked everyone to calm down for many minutes, the latter announced the news on the microphone. “For security reasons, the press conference is canceled,” he said, leading an incredulous Pope Thiaw out of the venue.
A decision which further angered part of the Senegalese press, furious that CAF was not able to ensure the smooth running of what was planned and to let the winner be questioned. The outcome of an evening that will be remembered, and not just for the right reasons.
