It’s an awful way for a tournament which had felt like such a great advert for African football to end.
I couldn’t believe the chaos I was witnessing from the commentary box, with some fans trying to get on to the pitch to my left and members of staff being separated down below me in the technical areas.
Then the Senegal players walking down the tunnel. It was a terrible look for the Cup of Nations.
If I look back at the past few weeks covering this event there has been a huge amount of debate – more than most years – about refereeing decisions and VAR, with accusations from some journalists and fans that hosts Morocco were getting the rub of the green from some officials.
It even got to a point where refereeing appointments for certain games were becoming a talking point on social media, which put a lot of pressure on the officials before certain games.
Senegal’s complaints about the way they’d been treated leading up to the final – including what they felt was a lack of security when they arrived in Rabat on Friday and their lack of tickets – also increased the tension going into this game.
Nobody expected the scenes we witnessed after the penalty was awarded though, and this was all in front of the Fifa president Gianni Infantino who was here to present the trophy to the winning side.
Morocco have been praised for the way they’ve organised this tournament – including from the big names like Mohamed Salah – with impressive infrastructure, stadiums and travel links.
Sadly for them though, with four years to go until they co-host the World Cup, the astonishing scenes before the Diaz penalty will probably be what will be most remembered about this tournament.
