By Andrew Warshaw
February 9 – Ivory Coast’s first Africa Cup of Nations title since 1992 on Sunday failed to mask a series of controversial events that blighted the tournament on and off the pitch.
A couple of days before the Elephants inflicted heart-ache on Ghana by winning the final 9-8 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes, Morocco were fined $1 million, ordered to pay €8 million in compensation and banned from the next two editions of the tournament for refusing to host the finals because of fears over the spread of Ebola.
Morocco had already been thrown out of this year’s competition and the further sweeping sanctions reflected the anger of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) even though the Moroccan federation took its decision on government orders.
CAF switched the tournament at short notice to Equatorial Guinea but despite several exciting fixtures, serious crowd misbehaviour marred two of the games, most notably the hosts’ 3-0 semi-final defeat by Ghana when rioting fans prompted a 30-minute suspension late in the game.
A night of celebration became a night of shame, with Ghana fans forced to seek refuge behind one of the goals, and as a result Equatorial Guinea were fined $100,000 at the weekend.
Tunisian Football Association president Wadie Jary, meanwhile, was banned from all acitivities by CAF after his federation failed to apologise for accusing African football’s governing body of deliberate bias.
Tunisia made the allegations after being beaten by Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-finals following a highly contentious stoppage-time penalty that sent the game into extra time and led to the official in question being banned for six months.
Despite their stature as one of Africa’s most heralded teams, Ivory Coast’s only previous Nations Cup success came when they beat Ghana in similar fashion 23 years ago. They missed their first two spotkicks on Sunday, only to force their way back into the shootout and ultimately sneak over the line.
Sunday’s climax, where the medals were presented by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, was wildly celebrated by the Ivorians but sadly co-incided with the latest tragedy in Egypt where the volatile, unpredictable nature of football led to yet another appalling tragedy with as many as 40 fans losing their lives as they tried to force their way into the stadium for a top-of-the-table league clash.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734890124labto1734890124ofdlr1734890124owedi1734890124sni@w1734890124ahsra1734890124w.wer1734890124dna1734890124