AFCON: CAF clears Nigeria, sanctions host, Mali, Senegal over misconduct
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Sunday cleared Nigeria and Super Eagles players of any wrongdoing during the just concluded 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Super Eagles impressed at the AFCON as they reached the final of the tournament, losing 2-1 to Ivory Coast.Also, CAF’s investigations did not find any infractions on the part of Nigeria and Super Eagles players.
But in contrast, AFCON host and winners, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali were sanctioned by the CAF Disciplinary Board. CAF Board convened to deliberate on different matters and imposed sanctions on Ivory Coast and Mali, specifically related to their knockout clash on February 3. The host was, therefore, fined $5,000.
Mali faced charges of misconduct because of unsporting behaviour of their players towards the match officials. Hamari Traore, in particular, was found guilty of unsporting conduct and received a four-match suspension, with two matches suspended for one year. Additionally, Mali incurred a fine of $10,000.
Also, Senegal’s Krepin Diatta was charged with bringing CAF into disrepute following comments made after the match between his team and Ivory Coast played on January 29, 2024.
The Disciplinary Board found Diatta guilty and suspended him four matches, two of which are suspended for a period of one year. He was also fined 10,000 US Dollars, while Senegal was also charged with team’s misconduct and fined 5,000 US Dollars. This was disclosed in a post via CAF’s official website.