Oct 16 (Reuters) – Ivory Coast booked their place in January’s African Nations Cup finals after they were awarded a 2-0 win over Senegal for last Saturday’s qualifier in Dakar which was abandoned in the 74th minute due to rioting fans.
Missiles, stones, bottles and firecrackers were thrown on to the pitch by disgruntled home fans, who were frustrated with their team’s poor show that left them trailing 2-0 when the match was halted.
Both teams had to be escorted out of the grounds by security forces, who fired tear gas inside the packed stadium to stop the rioting.
“CAF decided to officially confirm the result of the match as 2-0 in favor of Ivory Coast in accordance with the … the regulations of the competition and to consider Senegal the loser of the said match and eliminated from the competition without prejudice to any other sanctions that may be imposed by CAF Disciplinary Board,” the Confederation of African Football (CAF)said in a statement on its website (www.cafonline.com).
CAF rules state that: “If the referee is forced to stop the match before the end of the regular time because of invasion of the field or aggression against the visiting team, the host team shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated from the competition.”
The African Nations Cup will be held from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10 in South Africa. (Writing by Pritha Sarkar in London, editing by Justin Palmer)
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