http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YpDibLOJa0
Senegal have been thrown out of the African Cup of Nations tournament following the riots that broke out during the clash with the Ivory Coast on Saturday.
All hell broke loose in Dakar at the weekend shortly after Didier Drogba had scored his second goal to put the Ivory Coast 2-0 up, following which missiles, stones, bottles and firecrackers were thrown on to the pitch.
The players including the likes of Drogba, Yaya Toure and Newcastle pair Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse had to be escorted off the pitch by riot police and tear gas was eventually used in an effort to restore order.
Sanctions were inevitable following the disorder in the stands and today it was confirmed that Senegal have been thrown out of the competition, while the 2-0 scoreline will stand and the Ivory Coast will progress to the tournament in South Africa at the beginning of next year.
The CAF (Confederation of African Football) confirmed Senegal’s disqualification in a statement on their website and added that further sanctions could yet be applied as a result of the riots, which, if you haven’t seen yet, can be viewed in the video above.
As a result, the likes of West Ham’s Mohamed Diame and Newcastle pair Ba and Cisse won’t be heading away on international duty for an extended period at the turn of the year.
Although he would have preferred if the circumstances were different, we’d imagine that Alan Pardew, for one, won’t be hugely aghast at the news.
