It appears FIFA are giving CONCACAF the first opportunity to prove they can punish Senegal significantly enough after their response to conceding a stoppage time penalty was to walk off the pitch.
If you think this topic is not relevant to Arsenal, you are sadly mistaken. The action, or lack of it, concerns the whole of football, and it is the responsibility of the relevant governing body to safeguard the sport.
There needs to be the strongest deterrent possible because, as things stand, the next time a team disagrees with an official’s decision, they can simply return to the dressing room and make their opponents wait for as long as they wish. The sense of entitlement is astounding, with players seemingly believing they will only play if they agree with the decisions being made.
In my lifetime, I have watched Arsenal denied a goal in an FA Cup final because of a blatant handball, Wayne Rooney dive to help end the Invincibles’ unbeaten sequence, Eto’o score from an offside position in the 2006 Champions League final, and Frank Lampard’s effort against Germany in the 2010 World Cup clearly cross the line.
Yet if we are honest with ourselves, for decades all clubs have benefited from, or been victims of, controversial calls.
At no point did fans expect their manager to order the team to leave the pitch, because it has long been accepted that having someone in charge who is not flawless is part of the sport.
Yet we live in a society where conspiracy theorists are regularly warned by judges that what you think and what is true are not always the same.
Why walking off the pitch cannot be tolerated
That is why certain Gooners could learn from the aftermath of last Sunday, because a portion of our fanbase often suggests corruption, bias, and agendas exist within the game. This reflects modern culture, where people can share opinions around the world in seconds, regardless of credibility. It is now common for words to be used without understanding their meaning.
For example, I have peers who believe Senegal stood up to the system last weekend, that Africa felt Morocco had been favoured for the past month, and that Les Lions were simply defending themselves.
Why do you think El Hadji Diouf was seen talking to someone on the phone, after which the match was immediately ordered to resume?
Because it would have been an embarrassment for African football if the hosts were awarded the trophy by forfeit, the complete opposite of what AFCON was intended to represent.
Sanctions could have included a World Cup ban, and legally their federation would have had no argument, because, whisper it quietly, Senegal have yet to provide any evidence of corruption. Instead, they followed the growing trend of claiming conspiracy when things do not go their way.
That is not taking a stand, it is throwing a tantrum because you are not getting what you want.
If your child ran out of a room crying because they did not win pass the parcel, you would say they were sulking.
Protecting football’s future
I would have respected the situation more if they had not returned and instead submitted proof days later that the corruption was so severe they had to stop at that moment.
Not before the match, not after their semi final, but precisely at the moment they believed they had lost.
Any fines will likely be met with defiance by the country, who will feel the ends justify the means.
At the very least, their manager will probably resign before he is sacked, almost as a favour to his employers. How naive was it to think he could quickly apologise and then expect a standing ovation when he walked into the press room proudly holding his daughter’s hand and displaying his medal. The fact he seemed surprised to be booed out of the building tells you everything.
He has disgraced a continent.
Arsenal could be on the verge of becoming champions in the country that invented football. Let us protect it.
Do you believe football’s authorities are doing enough to protect the integrity of the game, or are stronger punishments now unavoidable?
Dan Smith
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In this hotly contested game only 2 yellows were seen both by Arsenal players. Key controversial moment might be Maguire’s handball which stopped a scorable chance. In fact with this ref Arsenal failed to win 5 in a row as Arsenal Official stated.
That’s because we played terrible
Ask yourself this , how many great saves did their keeper have to make ?
The ref had nothing to do with us losing the game. He officiated well.
The Maguire handball was judged that his hand is in a natural position as he was falling to the ground.
We got a similar call against Liverpool 2 years ago, when Odegaard was falling to the ground and the ball hit his hand inside the 18 yard box but the referee did not give a penalty.
Sj, you go watch the Chelsea penalty given earlier, the players hands were in a natural position. They deemed it a penalty because the ball was going in and mind you ref said it was accidental hand ball. Question is why was it given?
And now to our game, second Manchester goal Dorgu the scorer handled the ball before scoring, the rule book any handling by a goal scorer accidental or not should be chalked off. The video they showed us clearly show the ball did come off his arm.
We weren’t at our best on the day, and created nothing of note and maybe deserved to loose the game, but consistency from Referees and Var is appalling.
I agree. Thank you. If the other way around?
Kenya001,
Just what was Maguire meant to do. Try falling to the floor without using you hand to break you’re full, it’s the natural thing to do.
Anyone who really thinks that was a penalty really is looking through those rose tinted glasses I’m afraid.
I am not contesting the fact that Maguire was falling down. What was the palace defender supposed to do? And if the explanation to give a penalty to Chelsea was due to the ball going in, Maguire prevented the same from happening!? And unlike against Odegaard, ball going wide. My question is where is the consistency?
Dorgu handles the ball before scoring, rules state that goal should not stand accidental or not
Why has this immediately gone off topic?
In what way did our game against Manchester United relate to the AFCON final?
I wonder 🤔 o. Dan Smith makes it look like he wants or pressuring CAF and FIFA to go extremely hard and harsh on Senegal, that your personal decision won’t stand 100%. Right from the quarter final to semi final and final there were some sort of actions or calls by the center refs in those games that glaring made it look like they deliberately wants the host to lift the trophy.In the qtr. final match Cameroun had clear penalty that that the officials turned down and Samuel Eto’o left crying. In the semi final against Nigeria the ref didn’t waste time in giving unjust yellow card to Bassey and went on the to give more yellow cards all to Super eagles with Moroccans committing similar fouls or worse and went scott free even kicking away the ball after free kick have been awarded not to mention other antics that Atlas Lions and those around the pitch engaged i the ref, CAF and FIFA turned blind eyes to that psychologically affected the Super eagles and put them off. Yet I’m not outrightly saying that the actions the Senegalese took by walking out for awhile is the best but there are times that there’s need for one do something crazy to correct some anomalys and brace the consequences for the benefits of all. Brazil that has won the world cup over and over, the last time they hosted the mundial were thrashed by the eventual winners Germany in the semis. There’s this proverb in my place that goes “When evil is continuously being condoled, is neither being checkmated nor corrected before you know it it becomes a norm or tradition” So please soft pedal on your desired sanctions on Senegal for he that goes to the gods for equity must go with clean hands. Were the officiatings through out the tournament of high standard? Somehow yes. Were there glaring flaws? Yes and yes.
Was thinking the same .
The first goal United scored, heres a question. When is the last time we scored a goal likr that? When did our high press force opposition defense to concede a goal? Also, how many goals we have scored outside the box in the past 2-3 months?
Because I can remember similar mistake happening to us at least against Bournemouth and Spurs.
Dan is trying to take our minds off the game last night.
But I agree that FIFA and CAF need to punish Senegal, maybe with a fine and/or some match ban.
That will send a message to the football world that such indiscipline cannot be condoled.
Football has rules and the rules must be adhered to.
Stay on topic people, there’s other posts to air you’re views on regarding the United game.
Dan smith, without going into it to much, suffice to say I totally agree with you’re very well written piece.
Whether you agree with an officials decision or not is neither here nor there. If players and management start thinking this is the normal way to behave, then football as we know it is in big trouble.
Again, a very well written piece Dan. 👍
You just don’t see this behaviour in rugby. Maybe it’s the amount of money involved in football, but the referee is there to make honest judgments. Sometimes it seems unfair and humans do have bias, deliberate or not, but unless it’s racism, homophobia etc or missiles being thrown from the stands, the cause of walking off the team for anything less should involve them getting banned there and then. I didn’t follow AFCON but if a retrospective judgement is needed then so be it
It was shocking to see a coach tell his players to walk off! Discplinary action must be taken. Mane and Diouf might have prefented and safed face of an astonishing tournament. In the end still wasn’t a good picture
Off topic –
The past is gone so we just need to learn our lessons, correct our mistakes, train harder and play to win the forthcoming matches.
Over to Kairat on Wednesday and Leeds on Saturday.
A winning streak must start. It is extremely difficult to do but it is highly possible because we have the player quality to go on a winning run.
The players should have belief in themselves and prove to us that they are good quality players.
SJ, you have the good grace to acknowledge going OT. Yes, let’s have a dynamic restart from Wednesday.
With the squad we have and quality players,why is it too difficult to turnaround and go on a winning streak? Someone needs to lead and take responsibility. This face up to reality has been brewing all season. Earlier on we took the scraps. a scabby win here and there there based on our opponents not taking chances and some set piece fluke. The long term was that with our most creative player back and the new signings settling in we were then going to blow teams away once we got on a roll. It hasn’t happened yet and whether or not it will remains doubtful. It’s up to the manager to re evaluate his footballing philosophy, discard the Artetaball garbage and allow his players the freedom to express themselves and enjoy their football.
Dan Smith, your level of ignorance surrounding events in Morocco and FIFA’s stance on the matter can only be explained by your inherent delusion of superiority and knowing it all without knowing anything at all.
You clearly did not watch the match and didn’t bother to watch the video either. There’s a whole sequence of events that led to your demi-god referee awarding a penalty against Senegal, but ofcourse that’s irrelevant to you. When a fallible, elected official disregards the rules of the game, stakeholders in the sport stand up and protest. Its happened in every single continent on this planet. In England, involving your reversed Arsenal, in Argentina and many other countries. In worshipping your referees and undermining players, in this case a whole country, you display a complete disrespect to the sport of football. Its a fallacy that what one man decides is right or lawful and therefore incontestable. I urge you to watch (on video) the abuse of the Senegal team by Moroccan officials and fans, that culminated in the distorted officiating in the pitch.
What’s a “reversed Arsenal”? Is that what we got in yesterday’s game?
You’re on spot 👌
Did you protest ?
You only protested when you thought you lost.
You came back onto the pitch , that’s not a protest .
Your manager and players have since said sorry and it wasn’t the right thing to do.
That’s not a protest .
Let’s see how ignorant I am and if Senegal suffer any sanctions
FIFA has ducked out of this, which is hardly surprising given that their focus must be on preventing the World Cup from disintegrating. I don’t know how much, if any, corruption there is in African football, but I honestly think that if it occurred to Arsenal in a domestic or European game it would be dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Mo Molapo and Okey Joseph, I think you very much know what you’re talking about. You know well what was on the ground in Afcon before the final game. You know not only incidents here and there but deep lying concepts. Simply accept you mates.
The governing body of African football is CAF,not CONCACAF as you stated in your article and as i have already said before,wether Senegal are fined/sanctioned or not,they have already made a statement by their walk-out and its now left for CAF&FIFA to do their job by training their refrees better and to also remove all forms of corruption from football because i believe that CAF/FIFA instructed the refs to do everything to make sure Morocco wins the tournament(and if you ask for evidence of corruption,i will also ask you of evidence that there is no corruption).
Yeah but you essentially saying you don’t mind if Senegal get punished doesn’t make it okay
That’s like saying a child robbing a can of coke is good as long as the parent is proud ?
I don’t need to prove anything as the burden of proof is not on me as I’m not the one making the accusation.
What you believe isn’t evidence.
Senegal didn’t believe it by the way , if they did why not refuse to play the game and provide the money evidence.
Would have been more respected that way . Only wanted to make the stand the moment they thought they had lost .
Moment penalty was save guess what ….happy to play now lol
Why not refuse to play extra time.?
I guess you didn’t watch the tournament or even the final to see the clear evidence of bias from the refrees in favour of Morocco to help them win the tournament.I believe i have made my points to you and wouldn’t wish to continue because your continous opinion of refrees being infallible will never change am afraid,and i also believe even if you are provided with evidence of bias/corruption,you will find a way to side with the refrees.
I agree mate
There is no point continuing if your evidence is I think that was / wasn’t a penalty?
Some thought there was a handball on Saturday , others don’t . So does that mean there is corruptipn
If Senegal believed corruption was happening why play the final ?
And a fair question if you believe football is corrupt .. why watch it ?
I watch football for entertainment/pleasure and won’t stop watching because of corruption,just like i won’t run away from my country because our government are corrupt.
Matthew, I agree with you regarding the bias shown to Morocco by the refs during the AFCON. The perfect example was in the Final when Senegal had their goal disallowed. A Moroccan player pushes a Senegal player, the Senegal player then gently pushes him back and the ref disallows the goal. From the resulting free kick Morocco then attack and get the penalty (which was a penalty imo). That is why I think the Senegal manager took his players off the pitch.
Thank God you saw it but Dan Smith is of the opinion that we quit watching or quit the tournament(in case of teams complaining) when we sense any form of corruption/bias from the refrees rather than calling them out.
👍
But you didn’t
Senegal only called out the bias the moment they correctly conceded a penalty
Why not refuse to play extra time ?
Imagine how brave they would be to not play the final on the basis of corruption
Call out and complain ( we all do that ) but don’t leave the pitch
Can I ask why Mendy didn’t get a second yellow card btw
He would have right if reff was corrupt ?
Too simplistic view of football or conservativeness leads to wrong conclusions. Refs (wherever) like all of us are humans fallible and their decisions can be influenced by geography race faith ego likeness and lots of other factors.
But remember peeps
Senegal only protested when they conceded a penalty
Before that and once it was saved they were happy to play on
It’s almost like they were only unhappy about conceding a penalty which some think was legit
The Senegal manager was having a good when their goal was wrongly disallowed. Morocco then went up the other end and got the penalty.
*having a go
Didn’t walk off the pitch though ?
He walks off only when …..he concedes a pen which we both agree was correct
No because the ball was in play. Now if that goal would’ve stood, which it should have, then the likelihood of them getting that penalty would’ve been fairly slim.
But after it wasn’t
Why not walk off in that moment?
Why play on in extra time ?
Why play the final at all ?
The writer’s knowledge of African football is evident just in the very first line of the article where he makes America as the governing body of African football.
Predicted text changed it lol
Well I predicted they will get punished
Let’s see who is correct
Concacaf is of North and Central America. Caf is of Africa. Additionally who are Les Lions? If it is about Senegal, they never had this name.
The writer reminds us about England creating football ostensibly to galvanise some. The Terranga Lions comfortably beat England 3-1 at Nottingham in June tasting Tuchel his first defeat as England coach; a feat which other European teams couldn’t do in the qualifications. Is it for this reason you want Senegal banned from the world cup? Senegal are the pride of Africa!
January 23, 2026 The Athletic reported Morocco is engaged in killing 3 million street dogs and cats as clean up operation for Afcon and next world cup ’30. The killings are barbaric involving burning them alive when there are other inhumane ways if so. Imagine this happening in the name of FOOTBALL and just to please football fans. Where is then your FIFA that you incessantly demand to severely punish Senegal to effectively barring them from the world cup?
What does that have do with Senegal needing too ( and they will ) getting punished lol
Morocco were prepared to win the trophy at any cost including sacrificing their own 3m pets
What’s that got to do with what Senegal did lol ?
If they had said before the game we are not playing because of the pets ….brilliant
Are you really suggesting that they conceded a penalty and went now we will walk off in protest of the pets lol
Your better then this
Sorry I hoped you’re living in a land and people that value pets lives.
What are you talking about lol.
Senegal didn’t walk off the pitch because of pets
Talking about the consequences of planning to winning at any cost sacrificing pets lives and taxpayers money also disgracing Caf image
Sengal didn’t walk off for any of those reasons
If it were to be on a neutral venue,i would’ve supported Morocco over Senegal anytime because i have never liked Senegal,but due to them resorting to cheating&bribing refs,i had to reluctantly start rooting for Senegal and as i have said already,their walk out is the best thing to have ever happened to Afcon tournament because it will serve as a means for CAF to be on their toes by playing fair in future tournaments inorder not to repeat the embarassment they faced in the grandest stage of African football.
So because of the cheating you liked Senegal who …cheated lol
This won’t change anything about AFCON
All that will happen is a new rule put in place to stop Senegal or others doing this again
Condoning cheating is like an accomplice to cheating. Weren’t Senegal denied a legitimate goal before all the debacle? You didn’t hear the Caf technical report?
That goal was never legitimate. The referee rightly blew for a foul before the ball went in. The penalty call was also correct.
What lost them my respect was the walk-off. It was a blatant attempt to bully the referee and unsettle Morrocan players and it’s cheating. That kind of behavior should have serious consequences. They should be stripped of the title.
As for the wave of hate against Morocco, it feels rooted in something uglier than sports—racism, envy and regional prejudice within Africa (both arabs and non arabs). We have to call that out.
The ref got the big calls right. The real disgrace was the protest after being defeated football wise.
The disallowed Senegal goal should have been given as both players gentley pushed each other. The Moroccan player made the most of it.
The ref gave every little decision in favour of Morocco. What I will say he got the penalty decision right.
Not every decision
I think Mendy should have been sent off as well
And if there was a conspiracy he would have been
Which Mendy, and for what should he have been sent off for ?
You know when the keeper comes back for the penalty
He gets booked for time wasting and coming off his line to put off the penalty taker
Even after the yellow card he carries on so I would have sent him off and if the reff was corrupt wouldn’t he have of ?
Ahh, Mendy the goalkeeper, not Mendy the RB.
No, if he would have sent him off then it be clear cut biasim. They like to do it like he did with the wrongly disallowed goal, which leaves it up to discussion.
This simple thing is obscured from Dan. Try your best good luck HD.
👍
Great for the future OK! Fifa also shouldn’t allow the brutal murder of 3m pets just to welcome and leisurely stroll its football lovers. FIFA should also devise and execute its mystic spiritual cleansing programmes and ceremonies to cleanse its refs from corruption.
None of that has anything to do with Sengal walking off the pitch lol.
Dan you did great in preparing multiple reports on African Gunners. You better should have stopped there because later stages exposed your lack of knowledge about African football and the general contextual matters.
Next is the Aussie? You didn’t hear v Leeds the ref us Gillette. Study his story v Arsenal. EPL is your utmost comfort zone. You’ve failed in Afcon which ‘Concacaf’ governs.
One more time …..what’s any of what your talking about got to do with Sengal walking off the pitch
Your deflecting mate and struggling badly
I will debate with good faith but your now even close to talking about the topic lol
Ambachew,
I’ve been reading you’re responses along with Dans, and I think your going way off subject matter.
With some of the dodgy decisions that we see in the Premier League, should we start blaming the state of this country for the incompetents in the VAR box.
I’m not having a go at you by the way, just giving you an example of how far you’re going off track in you’re responses to Dan.
I didn’t get a chance to watch any of the tournament but when I heard the news I was shocked. Corruption is everywhere in society, always has been and always will. There are only so much we as individuals can do to stop it. In the case of Senegal if they truely felt the dice was so heavily loaded against them they should have refused to play the game.
I am afraid waiting until it looks like you are going to lose and then walking off is not imho acceptable. Then coming back after a break and regroup to win and lift the Trophy, I am afraid that is a case of petulance being rewarded.
I don’t know what the rule covering this scenario is but surely if the deck was stacked in Morocco’s favour they would have been awarded the trophy.
I agree mate
If they had refused to play the game because they had evidence of corruption it would have been huge and most would support them
Waiting till think they have lost is so transparent
Have shamed Africa
Tonight at 6pm Arsenal Women v Asfar of Morocco. FIFA WOMEN Champions Cup which is the equivalent of ICC in men. Winner of this tie face Corinthians of Brazil for the title at Emirates on Sunday at 6pm. Prize money 2m. Arsenal are Champions of Europe. COYG!
Dan,
I see the Senegal manager has been fined and banned for 5 games. And some players have been sanctioned to.
Yeah said it would happen mate , even though I didn’t know anything apparently lol
Have disgraced African football
I think the manager won’t be in a job much longer
Maybe quits before he leaves
If anything the punishments only made CAF richer. Sanctions apply only to Caf run tournaments. It doesn’t affect Senegal’s role in the World Cup. Not only Senegal many teams including the host Morocco were hit with fines and sanctions. Some wished Senegal to be banned from the WC and also for Morocco to be made winners after forcing Senegal return the winning trophy. But the jury panel very well comprehend the chain of reactions that castigated the turmoil in the end. The cause and effect relationship has been deeply scrutinsed by the panel. Btw Senegal took 10m USD prize money after becoming champions. End of the story!
Yeah so like I said they got punished lol
I was correct
Total fines amount 1m. Sarr (Palace) Gana & Ndiaye (Everton) or Mane (Al Nassr) can simply pay that from their single pockets if they decide not to use the 10m prize money for paying fines. A slap on the wrist! This can be cited as the best example under the tenet of African solutions to African problems.
For the WC Senegal are in a group containing European teams in France and Norway. All players including the coach Thiaw will be there proudly representing Africa battling out against Haaland Odegaard Mbappe Saliba Dembele et al. In 2002 WC opening match we remember how Henry’s France were beaten by Senegal.
Bet they don’t walk off the pitch lol
Lessons learnt
Hope they wouldn’t be facing banana throwing, towel stealing, twat reffing, fan intimidation, training pitch refusal etc there in US, Mexico and Canada.
Of course we hope that doesn’t happen either
Senegal players are top level professionals almost all are born and bred in France; they know how to behave. If we put in too much water in a glass, we quite know it over spills. In Morocco they endured too much as an individual and team; that was why they resorted to the maximum sovereignty defending action.
Don’t know why it matters where they were born and bred
But anyway you can’t just make things up
Manager is guilty of “unsporting conduct” and “bringing the game into disrepute
Senegal forwards Iliman Ndiaye and Sarr received two-match bans for “unsporting behaviour towards the referee”,
So how can you say they are top level professionals?
Literally guilty for unsportsmanlike conduct
You were writing calling for a world cup ban on Senegal and for FIFA to sanction players and the coach. That didn’t happen. Caf knew the context well. In the heat of the moment they did the right thing that bore fruit later. Who said top level players anywhere in the world are perfect? Was Roy Keane not a top level player when he boasted how he played to break the leg of opponents; he walked off the world cup camp and lots of other even worst instances.
Yeah that’s what I wanted to happen not what I thought would happen
If Roy Keane after breaking a players leg said he was always professional, I would say apart from the time you did that
Because there are worse instances doesn’t make it okay lol
FYI after the world cup there will be preliminary matches for the next Afcon in 2027 to be organized by three Eastern Africa nations. In those fixtures Senegal could possibly be grouped against lesser national teams. This sentenced sanction only is applied in those fixtures which are almost irrelevant for the impacted; even these top level players whose name you mentioned may not be called for those types of lighter fixtures. In terms of fines Senegal are due to pay only 600k pounds. This by itself speaks volumes how Caf viewed the whole situation.
Mate with respect you have this habit of bringing up things that are not relevant to the topic .
Your now saying your against cheating …..but it’s okay to cheat because Senegal can afford the fines …….but can we call them professionals lol
If I was caught speeding in my car but could afford the fine and didn’t care …….I have still driven recklessly
Sengal have been punished ( as I said they would ) for their cheating .
What you feel about that doesn’t change the facts
Not seeing the relevance
Stick to the topic lol
Took it off topic with the very post. I don’t know why Just Arsenal puts up with it. It’s actually a form of trolling.
very first post
Yeah Jax I agree the article itself was off topic, unrelated to JA. You and SJ particularly were saying this from the start.
I think he’s talking about you mate lol
And if you feel it’s off topic don’t respond to it?
I think he’s being a bit sarky Dan, not bad at it either😄
Check 9:11 Jax post. Jax had been asking you the relevance of the article long before I commented on the article.
Not at all. I’d been asking the ‘relevance’ of your comment at 8.38 am, which was completly OT and which triggered a series of other OT comments. You do it all the time.
Go back and check it. Immediately after the article as a first poster I was talking about the Arsenal – Utd game because I believed JA has nothing to do with Afcon as no player from Arsenal went there. I just participated in the middle when I feel facts are distorted by some who have no knowledge of African football.
Well it’s not for you to decide is it dude
I think a team walking off the pitch in a major final impacts the whole of football
You said I have no knowledge simply because I said Sengal and especially their manager will get punished
I was correct
What your trying to say , is you disagree that they got punished but unfortunately that doesn’t change the facts