Hosts Morocco voted AfCON 2025 Fair Play Team of the Tournament; but were they?

* Ballboys and captain Achraf Hakimi captured on video systematically stealing towel for Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy during Sunday’s AfCON 2025 final

* Senegal substitute goalkeeper got assaulted by the ballboys as he safeguarded a replaced towel and was chased along the touch line with the match in progress

By Duncan Mlanjira

Video clips have gone viral on social media that exposes Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) 2025 hosts Morocco in calculated unsportsmanship behaviour of using ball boys to steal towels for Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy during Sunday’s AfCON 2025 final.

A video we have seen, captures a ball boy climbing over the pitch perimeter barricade and picking up the towel left beside Mendy’s goal side netting and tossing it to his colleagues before climbing back to his position.

Then a stadium steward also picks up a towel that Mendy had replaced after he ran over to the bench to collect, including — of all the people — professional footballer, the Atlas Lions’ captain Achraf Hakimi.

During a corner kick, Hakimi is captured picking up a replaced towel and tossing it to the ball boys and having realised that the towels were systematically being stolen, Senegal substitute goalkeeper Yehvan Diouf brought a replacement and decided to stay put besides the goal’s side netting to safeguard of the towel in his hands.

This did not go down well with the ball boys and some of the stewards, who approached the substitute goalkeeper Diouf and tried to snatch the towel from his grip but the Senegalese started retreating backwards along the touchline.

The idea of stealing the towel was to frustrate Mendy from drying up his gloves and face and it was very needed when it started to rain. So the Moroccans wanted Mendy palm gloves to be constantly wet so that the ball should slip off his grip and clumsily let in a goal.

And this is not the first incident, Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali posted on X that his towels were also disappearing during the semifinal against Morocco. Nwabali wrote on X: “They Took the Towels, Senegal Took the Trophy.”

Thus it is probably what infuriated the Senegalese when they protested a video assistant referee (VAR)-viewed penalty awarded to Morocco after a foul on Brahim Diaz during a corner kick in stoppage time, which Senegal players deemed Diaz had played out a dive in the scuffle for the ball.

The incident followed up an altercation between the players and the bench which led to coach Pape Thiaw to instruct the players to retreat to the dressing room in protest — but Sadio Mane dashed inside to persuade them back to the pitch.

Mendy had also boycotted and upon his return, he saved Diaz’s poorly taken spot kick to force the match into extra time in which Pape Gueye scored a spectacular goal that the Lions of Teranga defended to the end — to earn their second AfCON title.

Meanwhile, Confédération African Football (CAF) has condemned Senegal actions, describing it as “unacceptable behaviour” and that it is “reviewing all footage of yesterday’s standoff to refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty”.

ESPN reports that the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said today on its website that it will file complaints before FIFA and CAF indicating that that standoff caused by Senegal “disrupted the normal course of the match and the performance of the players.”

But it also seems like the hosts’ calculated moves to frustrate their opponents started  as soon as Senegal arrived in Rabat from their earlier base in Tangier. According to Inside World Football, the Lions of Teranga raised what it called “serious concerns” about the safety of the team, saying they received a chaotic reception upon arrival in Rabat. 

The team indicated that they were met by large crowds at the capital’s train station on Friday, where players were swarmed by fans seeking selfies and had to force their way to the team bus.

Inside World Football quotes a statement from the Senegalese Football Federation indicating that there was a “lack of adequate security” that left players and staff “at risk”.

It also pointed out issues around hotel arrangements, limited ticket allocations for Senegal supporters, and the offer of a training pitch at Morocco’s team base rather than a neutral facility.

“What happened yesterday was not normal,” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw is quoted as saying. “Given the number there, anything could have happened. My players could have been in danger. That type of thing should not happen between two brother countries.”

The episode also highlights the added pressures placed on hosts, who must deliver both a celebration and a secure operating environment long before a ball is kicked.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe acknowledged to Inside World Football the seriousness of the situation, saying the Morocco football governing body had a “duty” to Senegal to ensure its federation receives “all the support and encouragement they require.”

Morocco were voted AfCON 2025 Fair Play Team of the Tournament; but were they after all this unsportsmanship?—Info gathered from BBC Sports, X, ESPN, Inside World Football