Senegalese star accuses CAF of aiding Cote d’Ivoire to victory

Krepin Diatta

A distraught Senegalese star, Krepin Diatta, on Monday accused the Confederation of African Football (CAF) of corruption, alleging that the African football ruling body aided Cote d’Ivoire’s defeat of his team.

The AS Monaco of France star shouted at CAF officials after the game: “You’ve killed us, you’re corrupt! Keep your African Cup.”

Cote d’Ivoire defeated overwhelming favourites to retain their Africa Cup of Nations title, Senegal, via a penalty shoot-out after regular time of 90 minutes and additional time of minutes had ended 1-1.

In the round of 16 clash, Senegal had taken the lead through an early Habib Diallo goal before Franck Kessié levelled from the penalty spot late on.

The hosts won the ensuing penalty shoot-out 5-4. But the game changed when VAR called the referee’s attention to a blatant foul on Cote d’Ivoire’s Pepe inside the Senegalese box, which the official had earlier ignored.

Cote d’Ivoire’s Franck Kessie scored the resultant penalty to draw the hosts level in the pulsating encounter that lasted for 120 minutes.

Diatta was furious with the refereeing in the game, highlighting notably the decision not to award a penalty for what he deemed to be a foul by Odilon Kossounou on Ismaïla Sarr. A penalty was not awarded, and the referee was not told to overturn his decision by VAR.

“You go and consult VAR to give them a penalty, but a guy (Sarr) runs 40 metres, overlaps, breaks into the box and you can’t go and look at the VAR. I’m sorry, but it’s ridiculous. I’m really sorry, but they’ve killed our competition there,” said Diatta at the mixed zone, directing his comments towards journalists and members of CAF’s media service.

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