Senegal goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf has spoken out towards what he described as inappropriate behaviour from Moroccan officers in the course of the AFCON 2025 ultimate, following makes an attempt to take away the towel he was utilizing to dry his gloves.
The incident occurred throughout Senegal’s 1–0 extra-time victory over host nation Morocco on Sunday, 18 January 2026, in Rabat. Softfootball gathered that Moroccan officers had been seen approaching Diouf in the course of the match and making an attempt to tug away the towel he used to scrub his gloves and face.
The same state of affairs was beforehand reported throughout Nigeria’s semi-final defeat to Morocco, the place Tremendous Eagles goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali additionally had his towels eliminated by stadium workers.
Reacting to the incident, Diouf downplayed the significance of the towel itself however criticised the actions of the officers concerned. He mentioned:
For me, they had been simply towels—nothing extra—used to dry my gloves or my face. Maybe the matter took on extra of a ‘folklore’ character than it deserved, however to me, there was nothing particular about it.
I used to be simply as shocked as you once I noticed them making an attempt to take them. We’ve seen this earlier than with Nigeria: when the goalkeeper places down his towels, stadium workers come to take them, and I don’t know why they do this. Actually, it was not applicable conduct on their half.
As for me, I attempted to deal with the state of affairs calmly and underneath the very best situations, as a result of we wanted [Edouard] Mendy and the gamers to stay 100% centered on the pitch. That’s the reason I acted the way in which I did.
The towel incident added to an already extremely charged ultimate, which was marked by widespread protests from Senegal following a controversial late penalty awarded to Morocco in added time. Senegalese gamers briefly refused to proceed the match earlier than finally returning to the pitch.
Though the AFCON 2025 event formally concluded on Sunday, CAF has since opened an investigation into the chaos surrounding the ultimate, together with the refereeing selections and off-field conduct in the course of the match.
Additional motion or sanctions are anticipated as soon as CAF concludes its evaluation of the incidents that overshadowed the climax of Africa’s greatest soccer competitors.
