Morocco's football federation has confirmed it will pursue legal action against Senegal following the chaotic end to Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final, arguing that the decision of Senegal's players to walk off the pitch had a material impact on the result.
Senegal won 1-0 in Rabat, Pape Gueye scoring in the 94th minute after Morocco's Brahim Díaz missed a penalty. The spot-kick was awarded after a VAR review for a pull on Díaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf, prompting Senegal's players to leave the field for 15 minutes on the instructions of manager Pape Thiaw. Díaz's attempted Panenka was saved.
In a statement, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation said it would ask the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and Fifa to rule on the walk-off, describing it as having 'a significant impact on the normal course of the match and on the players' performance'. Morocco coach Walid Regragui called the incident 'shameful', while Thiaw later apologised, saying: 'We accept the errors of the referee... we present our apologies to football.'
Caf condemned the walk-off as 'unacceptable' and 'inappropriate', vowing to review footage and take action against those found guilty. Fifa president Gianni Infantino also criticised the behaviour of some Senegalese players and staff.
Díaz, who apologised for his penalty miss, said: 'My soul hurts... it will be hard for me to recover.'
