When the Stadium Lost Control: Senegal Fans, Staff, and a Night of Pure Drama

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00:00Yesterday was absolute chaos, I'm sure you've seen it all over your social media feeds,

00:04but the African Cup of Nations final did devolve in a way that was not the greatest for viewers

00:09inside and outside the stadium.

00:11But let me explain the context.

00:13It is the morning after, we are at the Casablanca airport, and we've had some time to think

00:16about what has happened.

00:17The vibe in Morocco has calmed down a little bit, but last night it was not calm at all.

00:22Let me explain why.

00:23The context is that the first drama began when Senegal left their base in Tangier and

00:27came to Rabat.

00:29The issue was that when Senegal got off the train and exited the train station, they

00:33were mobbed by fans.

00:34Let's be very clear, they were not hurt and they were not harmed.

00:37But it was the principle that was the issue for the Senegalese coach Pap Tiao.

00:41He said that it was not fair and not right for the Senegalese team to be treated in such

00:44an unsafe way.

00:46He said that the team could have been harmed, things could have gone wrong, and he's right.

00:49So that's strike one.

00:50Strike two, the Senegalese got to their hotel, and they felt that the quality of the hotel

00:54that they received was not up to the standard they wanted for a final.

00:57Strike two.

00:58Strike three.

00:59The Senegalese get to the training facilities, and they feel like they're being monitored

01:01by the Moroccans.

01:02They spot cameras and they spot viewers searching for them and watching them train.

01:07Strike four.

01:08Then we get to the game.

01:10At the match, a few hours before, it is actually explained that the Senegalese will only get

01:153,000 tickets allocated to them.

01:18Strike five.

01:19And then the match begins.

01:20Senegal scores a goal.

01:21Visually see the ball go into the goal, but it's disallowed.

01:25And in my opinion, justifiably.

01:27It wasn't a goal.

01:28It was offsides.

01:30However, the ref did not go check it on VAR.

01:34As the game is about to end, Morocco gets a penalty.

01:37What happens is that the entire stadium is actually quite unsure of what happened.

01:42And so the energy in the stadium was very, very odd.

01:44It was confusion.

01:45Actually, folks in the Media Tribune thought that Brahim Diaz had been given a red card

01:48because of how much he was arguing.

01:50In that moment, pandemonium ensued.

01:52You could feel the frustration from the Senegalese fans, the Dozie Mgand.

01:55And for context, they are a fan group who are meant to travel with Senegal.

01:59And they're meant and paid for by the government to support the team.

02:02So they feel a certain responsibility to push the team forward.

02:06When the ref went to VAR, after not having checked VAR for Senegal's goal, the collective

02:11agreement between the Senegalese fans was, no, we're not going to stand for this.

02:15And while it may have been a penalty, and while the referee may have had the right decision,

02:20the way that he went about it created a tremendous amount of tension in the stadium and created

02:25this moment of absolute frustration between the Senegalese fans and the Moroccans.

02:30And that's when the violence ensued.

02:31The Senegalese fans pushed themselves onto the banister, started kicking and pushing,

02:35and violence really did ensue.

02:37We don't condone violence at all, but that is an explanation for why it erupted.

02:40The Senegalese players then decided to leave the field.

02:43Their coach took them off the field.

02:44Papchaou said, no, we're going to leave, we're going to leave, we're going to leave.

02:47Mane stayed on the field, as the captain should.

02:49And after five or six minutes passed, he said, no, guys, come back.

02:52As Mane, we'll play this final and close it off.

02:54The penalty was saved, Brahim Diaz did something that I think a lot of Moroccans will question

02:58for the next 30 to 40 years.

03:00He decided to do a light chip, Edouard Mendy caught it, Senegal then went on to kind of

03:04retake the momentum, Papchaou scored an incredible goal, and Morocco was not able to come back.

03:08But if you had questions about why and what happened during that game, that's the explanation.

03:13Thank you so much.

03:14We're about to take our flight.

03:17We really appreciate all the support this month.

03:19Thank you very much.

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