AFCON Brawl: Morocco-Egypt Match Sparks Violence, Disciplinary Action

Morocco-Egypt, the match of all tensions! It was a difficult match marked by outbursts. While the score was tight (1-1), an altercation broke out between the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi and the Egyptian Mostafa Mohamed in the 75th minute, before Egypt brought the score to 2-1 after extra time. The Atlas Lions thus lost to the Pharaohs. After the end of the match, another fight broke out, this time in the corridors of the Amadou Ahidjo stadium. The Egyptian fourth goalkeeper Mahmoud Ahmed slapped Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), reports Hervé Penot of the sports newspaper L’Équipe. The Moroccan international Achraf Hakimi had to intervene to defend the boss of Moroccan football. Had it not been for the intervention of his teammates, he was going to come to blows with players from the opposing team.

Fouzi Lekjaa demanded immediate apologies. The Egyptian player had to go to the Moroccan locker room to apologize once the tension had subsided. But Fouzi Lekjaa does not intend to stop there. He has brought the matter before the disciplinary committee, reports Hespress. There was also a violent clash between Vahid Halilhodzic, coach of the Moroccan team and Carlos Queiroz, coach of the Egyptian team. Without, however, coming to blows. In the wake, the coach of the Atlas Lions skipped the traditional post-match press conference. His Egyptian counterpart was absent from the pre-match press conference.