Morocco players had staged a walk out in the deciding last match of the final group round and tournament, before claiming the vital point that clinched the title.

AFCON ‘76 was unique for the use of a final, four-team group round to decide the winner, a contentious experiment that proved to be a failure, and was rested after the tournament.

Morocco qualified for the final round as Group B winners, joined by Nigeria’s Green Eagles who finished second. Guinea also finished top of Group A, and second-placed Egypt completed the four-team final round.

With just two points awarded for a win back then, and one point for teams involved in a draw, Morocco won its first two matches of the final round, while Guinea drew against Nigeria, setting up a finale in the final match of the round between Guinea and Morocco to decide the AFCON winner.

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Guinea went ahead on 33 minutes through Cherif Souleymane, but controversy erupted after the hour mark when Zambian referee Nyirenda Chayu showed Morocco’s Abdallah Semmat a red card for a contentious foul on Papa Camara. The decision led to Morocco players leaving the pitch in protest, and they stayed on the sideline for about 15 minutes as mediations continued.

Play eventually resumed afterwards with ten-man Morocco eventually finding an equalizer via Ahmed Makrouh’s shot into the top corner from over 25 yards on 86 minutes. The draw secured Morocco’s first-place finish with five points, one point ahead of Guinea to claim their maiden AFCON title.

The aftermath of AFCON ’76 was a return to the knockout format, and the introduction of the walk over rule. The rule awards victory to the side that remains on the pitch and the protesting team forfeits the match alongside a fine.

Coincidentally, Nigeria was the first beneficiary of the rule at 1978 AFCON third place match against Tunisia. The Carthage Eagles walked off the pitch on 42 minutes in protest, and Nigeria was awarded a 2-0 victory to claim bronze.

History perhaps repeated itself this year when the Senegalese team staged a walkout over a controversial penalty awarded to Morocco in the finals.

At the January 18 final in Rabat, Senegal’s players walked off the pitch, led by coach Pape Thiaw, in protest against a penalty awarded late in regulation time to Morocco.

When play resumed after a delay of about 15 minutes, Morocco forward Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved. In extra time, Pape Gueye scored the decisive goal that saw Senegal become champions of Africa for the second time

But African football’s governing body stripped Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title.

In a stunning decision, the Confederation of African is “declared to have forfeited” the match, a 1-0 victory.

The result, it said, was now “being officially recorded as 3-0” ‌in favour of host nation Morocco. (Daily Trust)

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