AFCON 2021: Mali beat Tunisia after controversial ending
This was the 11th meeting between Tunisia and Mali as they kickstarted their quest for continental glory in Group F of the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. Tunisia had a 6 – 4 head-to-head advantage over Mali and a fierce clash was expected from both sides who are ever-present in this tournament, and that’s exactly what followed.
Mali, who have never won this competition, dominated the proceedings and carved out some chances, but failed to convert them. There was nothing separating the two nations at the break.
The situation changed, however, shortly after the restart. Mali got a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty after a handball in the box. Ibrahima Koné made no mistake from the spot to give the West Africans a 1-nil lead.
In the 74th minute, Mali suffered the same fate as they were adjudged to have handled in the box, with VAR needed to verify the decision. The goalkeeper Wahbi Khazri was the hero for keeping out the spot-kick.
There was inexplicable drama in the 85th minute when the referee, Janny Sikazwe from Zambia blew his whistle for full-time, leaving everyone in confusion after a cooling break was issued just seven minutes ago.
The situation got sorted out and when the match resumed, Mali was left down to ten men with second-half substitute, El Bilal Toure given his marching orders. A red card decision was confirmed after a VAR check.
There was even more drama when Sikazwe ended the match before the 90th-minute mark with the Tunisia bench very furious as it meant they had lost 1-0 to Mali who now sits top of Group F.
Everyone was in disbelief, none more than Mondher Kebaier who was furious, thinking he was going to get a lot longer with 11 against 10, surely there had to be some stoppage time for the VAR holdups, the cards and the cooling break.
The two teams then left the field.
Mali’s post-match press conference was stormed by CAF officials, who ordered the game to be completed after Sikazwe ended it on 89 minutes 44 seconds. The West African players came out to complete the remaining period of the game, but Tunisia and Sikazwe were nowhere to be seen. Amid the confusion, the stand-in referee blew the whistle for the third time and on this occasion, it was final as the result stood, with the West Africans winning the match 1-0.
This was a sad one for afcon…..his ineptitude will never be forgotten for a long time…if ever….sad
Embarrassing for African football
Hmmm…I would like to see the referee interviewed