Crazy AFCON Final: What’s Next ?

Dear You

1. The Moroccans have done well for the nation. They have the best football pitches in Africa. Yesterday, the stadium looked better than a lot of the ones we watch on European Championship Nights. Stadium was a beauty.

2. As beautiful as these things were. The dirty characters and unsportmanship of the Moroccans overshadowed the beauty of these sporting facilities.

3. The shenanigans; of ensuring the opposing goal keepers had no towel to clean sweaty gloves, of having officials do their bidding to other silly things was just ugly.

4. What’s even more soreful to the eyes is actually seeing a video of Hakeem joining the ball boys to steal the Mendy’s hand towel. Like…. WTF !!!?

5. What should FIFA and CAF do to this?

Beyond issuing routine statements and fines, this is a moment for firm institutional action. CAF and FIFA must openly review officiating standards, match-day conduct, ball-boy protocols, and host responsibilities. Silence or soft punishment only validates the chaos. Football bodies exist to protect the integrity of the game, not to manage public outrage after the damage is done.

6. What do we predict to happen next after Senegal lift the trophy?

The noise will die down. Celebrations will drown the controversy. Official reports will be quietly archived, and life will move on until the next scandal. Africa has mastered the art of moving on without fixing the problem. Senegal will rightly celebrate, but the questions raised by this tournament will be swept under the same old carpet.

7. Can we truly say these officials are indeed corrupt? How does this affect these African officials globally? Corruption does not always announce itself with brown envelopes. Sometimes it shows up as selective blindness, weak authority, and convenient incompetence. Whether corrupt or not, perception matters. Every incident like this further damages the credibility of African officials, making them less trusted, less appointed, and less respected on the global stage. Cases like this in the Nigerial Professional League is for example, why there was no Nigerian referee good enough for officiating at this AFCON.

8. Is it really possible that CAF will ask that the officials give the host some advantage?

Officially? No. Unofficially? Football history suggests hosts often benefit from “soft edges”, marginal calls, psychological pressure, and environmental manipulation. When officials fail to control these excesses, it begins to look less like coincidence and more like tolerance.

9. Senegal protested during the live match. The players left to the dressing room at some point before Mané intervened. Is this not itself a punishable act? By the letter of the law, yes. Walking off the pitch is a serious offence. But context matters. When players feel unsafe, unheard, or deliberately undermined, protest becomes inevitable. Punishing Senegal without addressing what provoked the protest would be addressing the symptom while ignoring the disease.

10. Football history is full of controversial moments that reshaped conversations:

— Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal. 1986 World Cup

— Thierry Henry’s handball vs Ireland. 2009 World Cup qualifier

— Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal vs Germany. 2010 World Cup

— South Korea’s officiating controversies. 2002 World Cup

— Chelsea vs Barcelona refereeing saga. 2009 Champions League

— Zidane headbutt incident. 2006 World Cup final

— VAR controversy in PSG vs Manchester United. 2019 Champions League

— Netherlands vs Argentina officiating disputes. 2022 World Cup

— Italy vs South Korea disallowed goals. 2002 World Cup

— England vs Portugal red card controversy. Euro 2004

Your Towel Spotter

Ediale

#ForTheCulture

PS: Well…Morocco wanted the towels more than they wanted the trophy. It’s only now fair that they get the Towel Trophy. They definitely outcollected more towels than other participating nations. We didn’t even know there was a Towel Collection Challenge. And please stop saying Brahim intentionally missed the penalty. It makes you look dumbbbbb.