Senegal’s head coach, Pape Bouna Thiaw, has openly defended his actions in the AFCON final after he ordered his players to leave the pitch after his team was unfairly treated against the host nation, Morocco.
The 44-year-old said that his decision was purely emotional at the time, and also a strong feeling that they were being treated unfairly.
The confrontation happened in the final after a VAR check, and the referee awarded a penalty to Morocco at the very last minute of the game. Senegal’s footballers, in protest, left the field for some minutes before they returned to finish the game.
The two sides then played through extra time following the missed penalty that allowed Senegal to score the only goal through which they secured their second AFCON trophy within three editions.
Pape Bouna’s decision was highly criticised, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is debating whether to bring disciplinary charges against Senegal. The 44-year-old coach, in a very thorough Instagram post on Thursday, reacted to the criticism.
“We had a great tournament with brilliant organisation in all aspects, but unfortunately, we ended in drama,” said Thiaw in his post. “I was not willing to disrespect the game principles that I have so much love for.”
The ex-national team player of Senegal further revealed that his first reaction was to defend his players. “All I wanted was to protect my team from the injustice that I saw. The emotional action you are talking about is what I describe as a natural thing to happen in an unfair situation,” he stated.
Thiaw has expressed regret for any offence caused by his action and, at the same time insisted that feelings go hand in hand with football. “We decided after the talks to play on and win the trophy for the Senegalese people,” he added.
Since returning home to Dakar on Monday, Senegal has been jubilant about their victory and the footballers were received by thousands of fans. In addition to the bonuses of more than $130,000 each, they were also granted pieces of land on the coast.
“My 28 warriors sacrificed everything for the country,” Thiaw stated. “Besides being heroes, they are truly great men.”
CAF’s disciplinary committee will most likely come to a decision in the next few days.
