CHAIRMAN of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, has said that the Senegal national team came “well prepared” for Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final after learning lessons from the Nigeria vs Morocco match.
Dikko said this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday monitored by News Point Nigeria Sport, saying the controversial officiating in the last match between the Super Eagles and Morocco fueled Senegal’s preparation.
“Senegal learned from what happened to Nigeria, probably in the last match. The officiating was not what it’s supposed to be. Everybody felt a bit off because all the second balls went to Morocco, so Senegal came prepared.”
Senegal won the 2025 Africa Cup Of Nation (AFCON) against Morocco, giving them 1-0 in extra time on Sunday.
Pape Gueye’s goal gave them a 1-0 extra-time win over the host, Morocco, at the end of the match.
Despite the Senegal win, the NSC chairman condemned their attitude, saying “the rules are rules, they brought the game to disrepute, and I’m sure they’re going to hear from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), for what they did.
“Football is not played like that, and the referee’s decision isn’t supposed to be challenged.”
He, however, noted that “ African football has taken a hit”, as “It was a very brilliant competition” at the end of the day.
“But this incident in the final might define this competition despite all the investment, the brilliant facilities, and organisation.
“If you look at all the other matches, they were good, and okay, the only matches that were having issues were the matches involving the host country, maybe due to the pressure from the fans,” he added.
According to him, “what happened was really bad for African football.
“I hope something will be done at the end of the day anyway. But from the host side, the next host should learn from that, and also the referee should learn that going forward, you don’t do this kind of thing just because you’re working against the host.
“So I think lessons were learned and I’m sure the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will surely do something about it,” he said.