The Tunisia Football Federation have appealed to replay their Africa Cup of Nations Group F match against Mali after the game ended in a controversial 1-0 defeat.
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Mali were 1-0 up through Ibrahima Kone’s spot kick when referee Janny Sikazwe blew the final whistle early.
The Zambian official blew the final whistle after just 85 minutes before restarting play for four minutes, but blew again with just 89 minutes and 43 seconds of the clash gone.
That was despite a cooling break, lengthy VAR checks for two penalties, which were expected to see added time included on at the end of the game.
Mali coach Mohamed Magassouba’s post-match press conference was later interrupted as it was announced the final three minutes of the game would be played.
About 40 minutes later the Mali players and officials returned to the pitch but the Tunisian players refused as they had reportedly already had their ice baths.
Tunisia’s refusal to return to play the remainder of the game led to Sikazwe blowing his whistle once again to call off the match, meaning the 1-0 victory for Mali will stand.
The controversial referee had been suspended in the past by the Confederation of African Football for corruption despite his experience in officiating at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 where he was in charge of the Belgium versus Panama game among other high profile matches.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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