On the evening of the 12th Beijing time, Tunisia lost 0:1 to the visiting team Mali in the first match of the African Cup of Nations group stage. In addition to the results, the "interlude" at the scene of the competition is even more magical.
According to the British "Independent", France 24 TV and other media reports, in the 85th minute, 89 minutes and 40 seconds of this game, the referee on duty twice blew the final whistle in advance and announced the end of the game. The move infuriated the Tunisian team. What is even more "bizarre" is that the post-match press conference was suddenly interrupted by the event official, informing the two teams to return to the stadium and make up for 4 minutes. However, this request was rejected by the Tunisian team, and the coach of the team lamented: after coaching for such a long time, I have never seen such a thing!
In the 85th minute of the match, Mali led home team Tunisia 1-0, which was trying to tie the score. However, Zambian referee Janni Sikazwe blew the whistle early. The live video shows that this made the Tunisian coaching staff on the sidelines and the Tunisian players on the field very confused and dissatisfied, and after some negotiations, the game continued.
However, just before the end of the 90 minutes of regular time (89 minutes and 40 seconds), the referee once again blew the whistle in advance and the game ended again. The video shows that at this time, the Tunisian coaching staff seems to be unable to bear it anymore, rushing to the field to find Sikazwei theory, Tunisian coach Kebayr constantly extended his arm to the referee group, pointing to the watch on his arm, indicating that the time had not come, but the referee did not pay much attention.
The chaos didn't end there. The report mentioned that the controversy "reached its peak" in the post-match press conference because of the sudden arrival of African Cup of Nations event officials to inform the two teams to return to the stadium for 4 minutes to make up for the previous referee's mistake. However, the move was rejected by the Tunisian team.
"There should have been 7 or 8 minutes of overtime," Tunisia coach Kebayr expressed his displeasure, "and his (referee's) decision was really inexplicable." "Kebayr also explained the reason for refusing to make up the game, saying that his players had been ice bathed for 35 minutes after the game and could not play again." I've been coaching for a long time, (but) I've never seen anything like this. He sighed.