Mali’s game against Tunisia was marred by controversy
Mali’s post-match press conference was stormed by officials from the CAF after their Africa Cup of Nations game against Tunisia was stopped 10 seconds early.
Mali had been leading the game 1-0 after scoring a penalty early in the second half, however the game was marred by controversy after the referee, Janny Sikazwe originally blew the whistle in the 85th minute for full-time.
Despite restarting shortly after, many were expecting a lengthy period of injury time following VAR decisions, red cards and water breaks, but more controversy followed as the referee then blew the whistle on 89 minutes and 44 seconds – to the anger of the Tunisia fans, players and staff.
The full-time whistle saw members of the Tunisia set up run over to officials to question the decision to blow up so early, with security forced to create a circle round them to protect.
La conférence de presse du coach du Mali a été suspendu à cause de ce problème d'arret de match avant le temps. #CAN2021 #cancamga #Gabon pic.twitter.com/1jV1wS0BYs
— La CAN vue du Bled (@CanBled) January 12, 2022
At that point it looked as if the game would end with a dark cloud over it, however CAF officials disrupted Mali manager Mohamed Magassouba’s press conference to demand that the final three minutes of the game be replayed.
Despite the protests of the Mali boss and his players, they reluctantly agreed and were spotted coming out the tunnel to prepare to play the last few minutes in Limbe.
However further drama ensued as the Tunisia team failed to come back out of the tunnel. After waiting for a decision to be made, Mali staff and players could then been celebrating after reports suggested that Tunisia refused to come back out of the tunnel, meaning that the result stood and Mali were given the 1-0 win.
