The Senegalese national team midfielder, Idrissa Gueye, expressed his willingness to “return the medals” he won with his teammates, after winning the African Cup of Nations, to Morocco, by officially awarding the title to the “Atlas Lions”, despite their loss of the final match on the field, with the aim of “calming the tension” between the two countries.
In an interview on Canal + after his team Everton beat Chelsea 3-0 in the English Premier League, Guy stated: “I personally pledge to collect the medals, and perhaps return them to Morocco if that might ease the tension between the two countries.”
He added, “This is ridiculous… The football match is decided on the field, and this is what we did in Morocco. We did what was necessary on the field, we won that match. We deserve to be African champions, and we are African champions for us! Titles are won on the field, not in offices.”
It is noteworthy that Guy captained the Senegalese national team in the final match of the tournament, as a replacement for the suspended defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Two months after the final match, which the “Lions of Teranga” won 1-0 after extra time in Rabat on January 18, the Appeals Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Tuesday that Senegal was considered “withdrawn from the final,” and the result on paper was approved as 3-0 in favor of Morocco.
Following this decision, the Moroccan Football Federation announced that it would resort to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest sports judicial body based in Lausanne.
Guy said: “If it were up to me, I would have told the federation not to file an appeal.”
It should be noted that a number of Senegalese national team players left the field on the night of the final match in protest against a penalty kick awarded to Morocco in stoppage time of the second half, after referring to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), at a time when the goalless draw prevailed.
Play resumed after a quarter of an hour of chaos and tension, with Senegal fans throwing projectiles and trying to storm the field. Moroccan player Ibrahim Diaz missed the penalty kick, before Senegal won with a goal scored by Guy in extra time.
