Farcical scenes at Cup of Nations final

RABAT, Jan 18 : The Africa Cup of Nations final descended into farcical scenes as Senegal staged a brief walk-off after hosts Morocco were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time at the end of the regulation 90 minutes.

The penalty was awarded after a VAR review by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala, when Brahim Diaz was rolled to the ground by full back El Hadji Malick Diouf at a corner.

Senegal initially refused to continue playing, with their coach Pape Bouna Thiaw calling them off the field, but captain Sadio Mane persuaded them to return and the spot-kick was taken after a 14-minute delay.

Diaz tried to chip the ball and sent it straight into the arms of Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

The game went into extra time.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Rabat; Editing by Ed Osmond)