Senegal Kicked Out of Africa Cup of Nations

Football players from Ivory Coast seen being escorted off the field in Senegal. The Senegal club is being held responsible for the outbreak of violence in Dakar., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Senegal kicked out of Africa Cup of Nations

16 Oct 2012 16:42 - Sapa-AFP

Senegal have been disqualified from the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations after crowd trouble forced their qualifier with Cote d'Ivoire to be abandoned.

Redemption on the line for African giants
The decision was taken at a Confederation of African Football (CAF) disciplinary meeting in Cairo on Tuesday after violence flared in Dakar on Saturday, with Côte d'Ivoire players and fans pelted with stones, bottles and chairs, fires lit in the stands and firecrackers thrown.

Further sanctions may be taken against the East African side, it added.

The violence erupted after Côte d'Ivoire took a 2-0 lead for a 6-2 aggregate advantage in a qualifier for the finals in South Africa. The match was suspended for 40 minutes while police tried to restore order but the referee abandoned the game.

Senegal's football chiefs said on Sunday that they would accept any punishment and apologised to Côte d'Ivoire and their fans.

The CAF said the decision was in accordance with article 16, paragraph 20 of its rules, which state: "If the referee is forced to stop the match before the end of the regular time because of invasion of the field or aggression against the visiting team, the host team shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated from the competition, without prejudice to the sanctions existing in the regulations."

Côte d'Ivoire will once again be the team to beat when the competition finals begin early next year but it is not a tag the "Elephants" are comfortable wearing, after failing to justify being favourites in the last four editions of the tournament.

Didier Drogba, who scored against Senegal on Saturday, and his co-stars finished runners-up to 2006 hosts Egypt, came fourth in Ghana two years later, made a 2010 quarterfinals exit and were runners-up again this year.

Both final defeats came in penalty shoot-outs.

South Africa could mark the last appearance in a major international competition for former Chelsea star Drogba, now plying his trade in Shanghai, as well as ageing stars Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora.

Côte d'Ivoire are among the top seeds for the tournament, which starts in Johannesburg on January 19, with South Africa, Zambia and Ghana.

AFP