21/01/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | JAN 21, 2026

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Afcon refereeing gets red card Standard not up to mark, crowd influence major factor

SHORTS Bangladesh face deadline over refusal to play in India CRICKET’S governing body has told Bangladesh to agree to play their matches at next month’s T20 World Cup in India or risk being kicked out of the tournament, reports said yesterday. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is refusing to play in India, citing security concerns, and have asked the governing International Cricket Council to shift their matches to co-hosts Sri Lanka. The BCB held talks in Dhaka at the weekend with ICC officials over the impasse, but no agreement was reached. “During the discussions, the BCB reiterated its formal request to the ICC to relocate Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka,” a BCB statement said. The ICC have not officially commented, but web site Cricinfo and other Indian media reported on Monday that the deadline of today had been set for Dhaka to make a decision. ICC sources have told AFP that Bangladesh could be replaced by Scotland, who are the highest ranked team who did not qualify for the World Cup. The T20 World Cup begins on Feb 7 with Bangladesh in England’s Group C and scheduled to play all of their group matches in Kolkata and Mumbai. Pakistan will play all their matches in Colombo under an ICC agreement with India to play at neutral venues in global or regional tournaments. Australia rest Cummins, Hazlewood, Maxwell AUSTRALIA will rest five top players, including Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell, for a three-match Twenty20 series in Pakistan ahead of the World Cup, selectors said yesterday. Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis will also skip the series starting later this month. Their absence opened the door to fringe players Sean Abbott, Mahli Beardman, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mitch Owen, Josh Phillippe and Matt Renshaw, who come into the 17-man squad. Chief selector George Bailey said the five were either returning from injury or having their loads managed ahead of the T20 World Cup. “The series is a great opportunity for those on the brink of selection and some young players we rate highly for valuable experience,” he added. “Some are already experienced international players, along with Mahli Beardman who has been with the group a number of times, and Jack Edwards who joined for the last one-day match against India in Sydney last year.” Australia will play Pakistan in Lahore on Jan 29, 31 and Feb 1, before travelling to Sri Lanka where they are scheduled to open their World Cup cam paign against Ireland in Colombo on Feb 11. Haas release images of 2026 F1 car THE American Formula 1 team Haas yesterday released the first images of its 2026 car, which will once again be driven by Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman. The US-based team, set to contest its eleventh season in motorsport’s top tier, has kept its tradi tional colors for the car, named the Haas VF-26, prominently featuring white, red, and black. “Like all teams, we’ve faced the challenge of competing in 2025 while looking to design and now build these new-regulation entries for the 2026 sea son,” said Gene Haas, owner of the American outfit. Like the 10 other F1 teams, this new car will make its on-track debut next week during closed door testing in Barcelona. “It’s been a monumental effort from everyone on the team to work with such a tight turnaround time from the end of last season to putting cars on track in January,” said Ayo Komatsu, the team’s Japanese principal. “It goes without saying that after so much talk, we can’t wait to see how these cars will perform.” “Clearly, the biggest change is from the engine side, and that’s going to be the key for us to be pre pared. It’s an exciting challenge, and it’s a different way of driving compared to before,” said French driver Ocon, who is set to contest his tenth F1 sea son.

T HE Africa Cup of Nations unfolded in a climate of suspicion that referees were favouring host nation Morocco, which reached a climax as Sunday’s final tipped into chaos after several conten tious decisions. The most striking image of this Afcon will remain the Senegal players leaving the pitch after Morocco were awarded a penalty at the very end of the second half. That came shortly after referee Jean Jacques Ndala had disallowed a goal for Senegal. The Senegalese reaction was a sign of the prevailing mistrust shown to match officials over the three weeks of the competition. Criticism of the refereeing is particularly marked at Afcons, but never before had the grievances taken on such proportions, to the point of spoiling the final in Rabat and tarnish ing the image of a tournament whose organi sation had until then been widely praised. “From the start it was unhealthy,” Morocco coach Walid Regragui said after the Moroccans lost 1-0 in extra-time in front of their home fans, referring to the oppressive atmosphere that accompanied each of his team’s games. Beyond the pressure exerted by Moroccan supporters during their team’s matches and the limited number of seats allocated to their opponents, the sources of tension between

he had let play continue without sanctioning that foul, the goal would probably have been checked by VAR and likely validated,” Derrien added. When Senegal defender El Hadji Malick Diouf grabbed Brahim Diaz round the neck and pulled him over at a corner, Ndala eventu ally awarded a penalty. Derrien said the penalty was questionable and followed a “micro-foul” at a time when the tension in the tightly-poised match was “enor mous.” Ndala was surrounded by players and staff from both teams and the hostile atmosphere was punctuated by the whistles of Moroccan spectators as he headed to consult the VAR screen. His decision sparked the fury of the Senegal players, some of whom left the pitch in protest, delaying play for around 20 minutes. The Congolese referee was also arguably too passive during this farcical episode because football’s rules stipulate that a player must be shown a yellow card “if he delays the restart of play” or if he deliberately leaves the field of play without the referee’s permission. If applied, that could have led to the dis missal of several Senegalese players who were already on a yellow card. – AFP ity and apologise with all my heart,”Diaz said via X . “It will be hard for me to recover because this wound does not heal easily, but I will try. Not for myself, but for all who believed in me and for all who suffered with me. “I will keep going until someday I can give back all this love and be a pride for my Moroccan people.” Diaz, 26, plays for Real Madrid having been born in Malaga and also won a cap for Spain before switching allegiances to Morocco in 2024. He finished as the leading scorer in the 2025 Cup of Nations after netting a goal in each of Morocco’s first five games at the tournament. Morocco’s 50-year wait for the continental title will continue at least until the 2027 tourna ment. Named after Czech footballer Antonin Panenka, the style of spot-kick is one where the player gently chips the ball into the centre of the goal rather than powerfully to either side, hoping the keeper will commit to diving. – Reuters urged Morocco to “pull themselves together quickly” before the World Cup this year. There was some good news for the defeated Afcon host when they achieved their highest Fifa men’s world ranking, rising to eighth, despite losing the final to Senegal, who climbed to 12th yesterday. Morocco moved up three spots in the January ranking to eighth. The 2022 World Cup semifinalists’ previous best was 10th in April 1998. The highest ranking achieved by an African team was Nigeria’s fifth in April 1994, while Egypt posted the best ranking among Arab nations when they reached ninth in July 2010. – Reuters

players and referees were legion. Morocco’s 2-0 win against Cameroon in the quarterfinals sparked the anger of the Cameroonians, who blamed the referee for overlooking a penalty after a foul on forward Bryan Mbeumo. “Many people want to believe, or make others believe, that we get advantages from the referees. We are the team to beat, so people will try to find every possible reason to say that Morocco is favoured,” Regragui said. Morocco’s semifinal win against Nigeria was also tinged with controversy. “The referee was dreadful. He made really bad decisions and it’s truly painful to see refe rees like that in a big match,” said Nigeria mid fielder Bright Osayi-Samuel. Above all, the final and Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala were in the international spotlight. Ndala lacked the authority to manage the crisis, according to former French interna tional referee Bruno Derrien. Derrien told AFP that when Senegal had a goal disallowed for a foul on Paris Saint Germain defender Achraf Hakimi minutes before the penalty incident, there was “con tact, but it’s very light.” “I think he blows the whistle too quickly. If MOROCCO’S Brahim Diaz (pic) has apologised for his Panenka penalty miss that cost his coun try the Africa Cup of Nations title on Sunday, saying his“soul hurts”and he took responsibility for the 1-0 defeat by Senegal in the decider in Rabat. Morocco were awarded a spot-kick in the 98th minute after Diaz was hauled to the ground by defender El Hadji Malick Diouf, an incident that sparked ugly scenes in the stands and on the pitch. It followed five minutes after a disallowed goal at the other end and the decision, made on Video Assistant Referee review, resulted in some Senegal players leaving the pitch in protest, encouraged by their coach Pape Bouna Thiaw. It took over 14 minutes for calm to be restored and the game to resume, only for Diaz to inexplicably attempt a weak chipped pen alty that was easily caught by goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. It proved one of the last actions before the game went to extra time and Senegal tri umphed thanks to Pape Gueye’s superb winner. “Yesterday I failed, and I take full responsibil

Remorseful Diaz apologises for penalty miss

Senegal ‘unsporting’ but better in final, say Morocco media MOROCCAN media yesterday joined the con demnation of Senegal who briefly walked off the field before returning to beat the hosts in the Africa Cup of Nations final. saying “the coach did not keep his word after repeatedly claiming he was capable of bringing home the trophy”.

The paper also lamented that “fair play was not present” during the game, blaming Senegal for the delay of nearly 20 minutes after the pen alty decision. Some Senegal fans at the opposite end of the stadium threw chairs and other objects and attempted to get onto the field of play. News website Ledesk described Senegal’s behaviour as “inexplicable anti-football”, but others like Le360 said Senegal were “better on the pitch”, adding they “did not steal their vic tory”. “After all, that’s football,” Le360 wrote and

After a 50-year wait, Morocco had the title in their grasp when they were awarded a contro versial penalty in the final seconds of normal time. The kick was delayed when several Senegal players walked off. When he eventually took the kick, Brahim Diaz missed. Senegal went on to win 1-0 in extra time. One Moroccan outlet, Le360 , called the match a “missed rendezvous with history” and magazine TelQuel described it as “a nightmare”. Daily newspaper Le Matin pointed the finger at the Atlas Lions’ head coach, Walid Regragui,