AFCON referee causes utter chaos in Tunisia vs. Mali

There were truly bizarre scenes in the Africa Cup of Nations, as the referee twice stopped the game between Tunisia and Mali early, then the Mali coach was told during a press conference his team had to come back out to play the rest, but Tunisia refused.

There was some Serie A involvement, as Salernitana midfielder Lassana Coulibaly came off the bench for Mali, who had won the game 1-0.

The referee was Janny Sikazwe of Zambia and provided sheer chaos in the Africa Cup of Nations match this afternoon.

First he seemed to blow three times to end the game just 85 minutes into the match, it restarted and he sent off Mali’s El Bilal Toure.

The referee then blew the final whistle at the 89^th minute, a minute early and with obviously no stoppages either, despite red cards, VAR reviews and penalties.

Over 20 minutes after the game had finished amid furious scenes, the Mali coach was interrupted during his press conference to be told that the team had to come back out and play the rest of the match.

Mali did emerge, with kits back on, but Tunisia refused to take part in the farce, so the game was called off again.

SCENES!! 🤯🤯

The referee blows the whistle before the 90 minutes are up…

VAR checks, two penalties and a red card… no stoppage time?!

It ends Tunisia 0-1 Mali 👀 pic.twitter.com/tPoiw7ZNGX

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 12, 2022

Now it looks like Tunisia refused to come out and play the final three minutes

Sikazwe and Mali waited for them and blew the whistle calling off the match

Now it’s officially full time pic.twitter.com/oviP8C9bzX

— Maher Mezahi (@MezahiMaher) January 12, 2022