Senegalese police evacuate the Ivory Coast national team as debris rains on the pitch.
This weekend I covered the fan riots that forced the abandonment of the Senegal vs. Ivory Coast African Cup of Nations qualifier last Saturday. With the Ivorians leading 0-2 late in the second half (and 2-6 on aggregate) Senegalese fans erupted to into violence, invading the pitch, lighting fires in the stands, and tossing projectiles at match officials and players.
Today the Confederation of African Football (CAF) formally disqualified Senegal from the tournament, awarding the Ivory Coast the 0-2 match result that confirms their trip into the tournament finals next year.
CAF said in a statement: "CAF decided to officially confirm the result of the match as 2-0 in favour of Ivory Coast … and to consider Senegal the loser of the said match and eliminated from the competition without prejudice to any other sanctions that may be imposed by CAF disciplinary board."
While Senegal will undoubtedly be unhappy about missing the final, there is an odd silver lining for Newcastle United, as strikers Demba Ba and Papis Cisse will not have to travel home to compete in the tournament come January.
No word yet as to if CAF will impose further sanctions on Senegal in the future.
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