Kimi Antonelli took his second win in succession and the lead of the world championship after being helped to victory in the Japanese Grand Prix by a safety-car period.
The 19-year-old Italian had not yet made a pit stop, while his rivals for victory McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes team-mate George Russell had, when Oliver Bearman’s Haas crashed heavily.
That gave Antonelli a pit stop that cost him less time than the others and ensured he could retain the lead.
A frustrated Russell, who finished fourth behind Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, said over the radio “unbelievable” as he realised Antonelli would beat him for the second consecutive race.
Antonelli becomes the youngest driver in history to head the championship and leads his team-mate by nine points.
There were questions as to whether the safety car really changed the result for Antonelli.
Mercedes were planning to leave him out for several more laps before he stopped, and as he was at the time lapping faster than the drivers who had pitted for fresh tyres, the team believed he would have emerged in the lead anyway.
“It feels pretty good, it is too early to think about the championship but we are on [a] good way,” said Antonelli.
“In the race, I had a terrible start. Just need to check what happened but then I was lucky with the safety car to be in the lead and then the pace was just incredible.” (BBC)
World number two Jannik Sinner powered past Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4 to win the ATP Miami Masters 1000 for a second time on Sunday, adding the title to his Indian Wells crown.
Sinner had to wait out rain delays before and during the match to complete his “Sunshine Double,” becoming the first man to sweep the elite hard court tournaments in California and Florida since Roger Federer in 2017 and the first to do so without dropping a set.
In fact, Sinner — who won Miami in 2024 but missed last year as he served a three-month doping ban — has now won three straight Masters 1000 events, starting with a victory in Paris last year.
“It means a lot to me, (completing) the Sunshine Double for the first time, it’s incredible,” Sinner said on court. “It’s something I never would’ve thought (I’d win) because it’s difficult to achieve. We made it somehow, so I’m very happy.”
Sinner’s victory, coupled with Aryna Sabalenka’s triumph over Coco Gauff on Saturday, mark the first time the Indian Wells-Miami sweep was achieved on both the men’s and women’s sides since Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka both did it in 2016.
It also saw the Italian gain a bit on Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the race for world number one as the clay court season beckons.
Early showers saw the match delayed for more than an hour. Sinner had just pocketed the first set when the showers hit again, halting the match for 90 minutes.
It wasn’t enough to unsettle Sinner, who fired 10 aces and won 33 of 36 points when he put his first serve in play.
His return game was also spot on as he handed 22nd-ranked Czech Lehecka his first service break of the tournament for a 2-1 lead in the opening frame.
Sinner trailed 0-40 in the following game but fired three service winners and a pair of aces to hold and made the advantage stand up.
The Italian gave himself a first set point in the ninth game with a blistering cross-court forehand service return winner.
Lehecka saved that one with a service winner and saved another set point with a volley, going on to seal the hold on his sixth game point before Sinner pocketed the set with a love game.
Lehecka fought off five set points before Sinner pounced for the lone break of the second set and a 5-4 lead.
Sinner didn’t face a break point in the second set and gave himself a match point with a forehand volley winner, thought he had it on a serve that was called a let, and polished it off with another winner at the net.
While Lehecka, playing in his first Masters 1000 final, couldn’t follow compatriot Jakub Mensik into the Miami winner’s circle, he will reach a career-high 14th in the world rankings on Monday.
“I came here with not good form and I was able to come back to the tennis that I want to play,” Lehecka said at the trophy ceremony. (JapanToday)
Tiger Woods was arrested Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence after his Land Rover traveling at “high speed” on a residential road clipped a truck and rolled onto its side.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods was able to crawl out of passenger side and was not injured.
“He did exemplify signs of an impairment,” Budensiek said, adding that investigators believe he had taken “some type of medication or drug.” He said Woods agreed to a breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but refused a urine test and was arrested.
Under Florida law, he would have to spend eight hours in jail before he could post bail.
Budensiek said the sheriff’s office will follow the law regardless of who has been accused of a crime. He said Woods was being held in jail but separate from others.
“He’s not going to be with other inmates that could hurt him or try to capitalize on what he did,” he said. “He’ll pay the price, but he’s not going to pay the price by getting punished in jail.”
It was the second time Woods has been arrested for a DUI not as a result of the influence of alcohol. He said he took a bad mix of painkillers when authorities found him in 2017 asleep behind the wheel of his car, the engine still running and its driver’s side damaged. Woods pleaded guilty then to reckless driving.
President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law is dating Tiger Woods, was asked about the golfer when he landed in Miami on Friday afternoon for an investment summit.
“I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty,” Trump said. “Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”
The crash occurred just before 2 p.m. not far from where Woods lives on Jupiter Island.
Budensiek said Woods attempted to pass a pressure cleaner truck while driving on a two-lane road with a 30 mph (48 kph) speed limit. He said authorities could not determine how fast Woods was going.
The Land Rover swerved to avoid a collision as he was passing the truck but clipped the back end of the truck’s trailer, Budensiek said. Woods’ car then rolled onto its driver’s side.
The sheriff said Woods was “cooperative, but he’s not trying to incriminate himself.” He said Woods has the right to refuse the urine test and that authorities “will never get definitive results with what he was impaired on.”
Woods’ manager at Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.
This was the fourth time Woods has been involved in a car crash, most recently in February 2021 when his SUV ran off a coastal road in Los Angeles at a high rate of speed, leading to multiple leg and ankle injuries. Woods said later doctors considered amputation. He also previously sustained multiple injuries to his left knee and his back during his golf career.
Woods returned from multiple back surgeries to win the 2019 Masters for his 15th major. His 82 titles on the PGA Tour is tied for the career record with Sam Snead. Since that LA crash, he has played 11 tournaments without being closer than 16 shots to the winner the four times he was able to finish 72 holes.
Friday’s arrest comes as Woods was trying to decide if he was fit enough to play the Masters, which starts April 9. He also was to be in Augusta, Georgia, on April 5 to unveil a golf course project with Masters chairman Fred Ridley.
Woods also was days away from what was described as a “soft deadline” to decide whether to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland.
Woods, 50, had been working his way back to golf from a seventh back surgery in September.
His last official tournament was the British Open in 2024. Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2025 and that kept him off the course all season even before the back surgery. He managed to play in his indoor TGL golf league on Tuesday night.
He has remained deeply involved in PGA Tour affairs as chair of the Future Competition Committee that is restructuring the model of the tour. (JapanToday)
The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has announced its official look, and it’s a blast of bold colors.
The graphic patterns and color palettes will be used to identify everything from credentials to staff uniforms to signage to competition venues and the athletes village.
The concept announced Monday is based on a California superbloom, a phenomenon that occurs every 10-15 years in the spring and results in a vibrant explosion of wildflowers across hills, valleys and deserts.
The LA28 design team studied past Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the 1984 Los Angeles Games, to inspire the look.
The orange Bird of Paradise, the city’s official flower, inspired the primary colors used in the concept as well as the 13 blooms that make up the full Superbloom. Graphics were built on a precise grid, with visual density reduced closest to fields of play to keep athlete focus unimpeded.
“We wanted the look to feel like Los Angeles itself,” Geoff Engelhardt, LA28 head of brand design, said in a statement. “LA is a city of incredible creativity, sitting at the intersection of sport and entertainment, and the Games will bring the world together here in 2028.”
On Monday night at Intuit Dome, where basketball will be played in 2028, fans attending the Los Angeles Clippers game will be greeted by a digital display of the LA28 look on the outdoor plaza’s giant screen. Inside, a video will play unveiling the look. (JapanToday)
Sebastian Korda stared down Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, sending the world number one crashing out of the Miami Open third round 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Korda, ranked 36th in the world, notched his first victory over a world number one, sending Alcaraz to his second straight early exit in Miami following defeat to 55th-ranked Belgian David Goffin in the second round last year.
Since that defeat, Alcaraz had built a remarkable 73-6 record, including a 16-0 start to 2026 that included his historic Australian Open triumph and a title in Doha.
It looked like Korda had missed his chance to spring the upset when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and was broken at love.
Alcaraz won the next two games to force a third set.
The Spaniard stepped up his intensity to win five straight games. But Korda didn’t buckle and it was the American who seized a break for 4-3 in the third when Alcaraz sailed a forehand wide.
He held his next service game with confidence, slamming down an overhead winner on game point and after Alcaraz held serve to force Korda to serve for the match again, the American made no mistake, sealing victory on his second match point as Alcaraz sent a service return long.
“It feels great,” said Korda, who has been ranked as high as 15th in the world but has endured two seasons disrupted by injuries. “I took the scenic route, that’s for sure — a little more stress than I would want but happy with how I played, happy with how I stayed with it.
“He’s unbelievable in every aspect of his game, movement, volleys, forehand, backhand, there’s nothing he can’t do,” Korda said of 22-year-old Alcaraz, whose Australian Open title made him the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
Alcaraz, who fell in the semi-finals at Indian Wells this month, was on the defensive early against Korda, who broke for a 5-3 lead in the first set and pocketed the set with an ace.
He broke Alcaraz again for a 2-1 lead in the second before the Spaniard’s spirited fightback that ultimately came up short.
Korda will face either Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce or 14th-seeded Karen Khachanov for a place in the quarterfinals.
Sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz broke big-serving compatriot Reilly Opelka once in each set to triumph 6-3, 6-4 in just 63 minutes.
Fritz served just four aces to Opelka’s 10, but Fritz won 29 of 31 points behind his first serve and dropped just six points on his serve overall.
Fritz lined up a fourth-round clash with Czech Jiri Lehecka, who beat American Ethan Quinn 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).
Rybakina advances
World number one and defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka, coming off her first Indian Wells title last weekend, headlined the night session against 72nd-ranked American Caty McNally.
In early women’s action, Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina — seeded third despite moving up to number two in the world this week — moved smoothly into the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
Rybakina next faces Australian qualifier Talia Gibson, who knocked off another seed with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over 18-year-old 18th seed Iva Jovic.
Gibson, coming off an impressive run to the Indian Wells quarterfinals, had ousted former world number one Naomi Osaka in the second round.
Fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula, runner-up to Sabalenka last year, reached the fourth round with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory over Canadian Leylah Fernandez.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, runner-up in Miami in 2018, held off seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini 5-7, 6-2, 7-5, emerging victorious from a see-saw battle that saw the Italian charge back from 0-4 down in the third set, recouping two service breaks to level at 5-5 before Ostapenko put it away.
Ostapenko next faces 45th-ranked American Hailey Baptiste, who upset ninth-seeded Ukrainian veteran Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5. (JapanToday)
The Premier League game between Newcastle and Sunderland was stopped on Sunday after there was a report of discriminatory abuse from the crowd, the league said.
Sunderland’s Lutsharel Geertruida, who is Black, was the target of the abuse that resulted in play being stopped during the second half of the match at St James’ Park.
The league said the pause was in line with its anti-discrimination protocol. It added that an investigation would be launched.
“Racism has no place in our game, or anywhere in society. We will continue to work with stakeholders and authorities to ensure our stadiums are an inclusive and welcoming environment for all,” the league said in a statement.
Newcastle also said it would investigate and “ensure any individuals are identified and held accountable.”
“Our stance is clear – we do not tolerate discrimination of any form,” it said.
Before kickoff in the local derby, there had been tense scenes between fans outside the stadium, with videos widely shared online. But Northumbria police said only one arrest had been made before the match.
Sunderland won the game 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Brian Brobbey. (JapanToday)
The first major domestic trophy of the season is Manchester City ‘s. And after a dominant 2-0 win against Arsenal in the English League Cup final on Sunday, it may not be the last.
Manchester-born Nico O’Reilly sealed victory with both goals in the second half at Wembley Stadium. The win could also have delivered a psychological blow in the race for the Premier League title as Pep Guardiola aims to chase down Arsenal’s nine-point lead at the top of the standings.
“(It’s an) unbelievable feeling to win a final and to beat this team. We know how good they are,” O’Reilly told Sky Sports. “We need to build on it now, it’ll give us momentum.”
This was serial trophy-winner Guardiola flexing his muscles. It was his 16th major trophy as City manager and a record fifth League Cup. He has won 34 career titles as a manager including his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
And, once again, he was stamping out Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s own ambitions, having twice beaten his former assistant to the league title in recent years.
“I’m really pleased because I know the opponent we played. Mikel created a team that is almost unbeatable,” Guardiola said. “Every time you win a title it looks more difficult than in the past. It is really difficult for many reasons.”
Arsenal remains favorite to be crowned league champion this season for the first time since 2004, given its big lead. But with second-place City having a game in hand and the teams still to play each other in Manchester at the Etihad Stadium, the picture could look very different in the coming weeks.
City’s win also ended Arsenal’s bid this season for an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies by an English team – including the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
“I’m very sad. It is a very hard one to take, especially for our players and our supporters because we know how much it means to them and how much we want that,” Arteta said. “We will manage that energy in the right way and we have to go through that pain and disappointment. It’s normal and it’s part of football.”
The 21-year-old O’Reilly, who came through City’s academy, was the unlikely hero with both goals from left back.
He took advantage of Arsenal goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga’s fumble to head City in front on the hour. And he headed in a second four minutes later to effectively kill off the match.
“My whole family came down today (to watch) … I know they’ll be buzzing and I can’t wait to see them,” O’Reilly said.
Arteta said he had no regrets about selecting Kepa — who had played in previous rounds — rather than first-choice David Raya.
Tottenham’s Premier League survival fight was plunged deeper into crisis with a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, one of three league games played on Sunday.
The relegation six-pointer left Spurs one place and one point above the drop zone and raised further questions about the future of coach Igor Tudor.
“The season is tough, especially in this moment. Another very bad (result) for us,” said Tottenham captain Cristian Romero. “The situation is tough, but most important thing is play (every game) like a final now.”
Fellow relegation-fighting Forest climbed above Spurs to 16th in the standings. The only positive on another miserable day for Tottenham was defeat for West Ham at Aston Villa to keep it in the bottom three.
Tottenham – one of English soccer’s most iconic teams and a founding member of the Premier League – is still without a win in the top flight in 2026. Its last win was Dec. 28 and it has lost six of its last seven games.
Igor Jesus’ header just before halftime gave Forest the lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Morgan Gibbs-White added a second just after the hour mark.
Taiwo Awoniyi completed Forest’s first league win under coach Vitor Pereira in the 87th to leave home fans fearing the end of its ever-present stay in England’s top division since the inception of the Premier League in 1992.
Tudor was hired last month to try to turn Spurs’ season around, but has lost five of his seven games in charge in all competitions and seen his team eliminated from the Champions League.
Tottenham remains one point above 18th-place West Ham, which lost 2-0 to Villa.
Villa boosted its chances of Champions League qualification and took advantage of all of its immediate rivals dropping points.
Villa is fourth, one point behind Manchester United and five points above fifth-place Liverpool.
Brian Brobbey struck in the 90th minute to give Sunderland bragging rights in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle.
Brobbey’s close-range effort sealed a 2-1 comeback win at St. James’ Park and saw Sunderland complete a league double over its fiercest rival.
Earlier, the game had been halted due to a report of discriminatory abuse from the crowd towards Sunderland’s Lutsharel Geertruida.
Before kickoff, there had been tense scenes between fans outside the stadium. Northumberland police said one arrest was made. (JapanToday)
Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 Tuesday night on Eugenio Suárez’s tiebreaking double in the ninth.
Maikel Garcia’s third-inning sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu’s fifth-inning homer off rookie Nolan McLean built a 2-0 lead before a roaring pro-Latin America crowd. Meanwhile, left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez and lights-out relievers limited the Americans to two hits through the seventh.
Bobby Witt Jr. walked with two outs in the eighth and Bryce Harper drove the second straight changeup from Andrés Machado over the center-field fence for a two-run homer that tied it. Harper slowly trotted around the bases and took time at third to salute coach Dino Ebel.
Luis Arraez walked against Garrett Whitlock starting the ninth. Pinch-runner Javier Sanoja stole second just ahead of catcher Will Smith’s throw and came home when Suárez doubled to the left-center gap. Suárez spread his arms wide and pointed to the sky at second base while teammates streamed from the dugout to greet Sanoja at the plate.
Daniel Palencia struck out two in a perfect bottom half to finish a three-hitter and get his third save of the WBC, striking out Roman Anthony to end the game. Venezuelans ran onto the infield to celebrate as the Americans stared while leaning on their dugout railing.
Despite a heralded roster of stars led by Aaron Judge, Harper and Paul Skenes, the U.S. lost its second straight final of baseball’s premier international event and remained without a title since 2017. Judge was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the championship game.
Ahead of a matchup with political overtones, players and coaches avoided discussing the government turmoil between the nations, heightened when the U.S. military captured Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in January. The sellout crowd at loanDepot park was heavily pro-Venezuela, with some booing American players during the introductions.
Venezuela became the second Latin American nation to win the WBC, after the Dominican Republic in 2013. The U.S. took the title in 2017 and lost the 2023 final to three-time champion Japan on this same field.
While the U.S., Japan and the Dominican Republic got much of the attention ahead of the sixth edition of the 20-nation event, Venezuela’s success was not that surprising. Sixty-three players born in Venezuela appeared on Major League Baseball opening-day rosters last year, second-most from outside the U.S. behind the Dominican Republic’s 100.
Venezuela went ahead in the third inning against McLean, getting the start because Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers decided the two-time Cy Young Award winner would make only a first-round appearance.
Salvador Perez sliced a first-pitch single and Ronald Acuña Jr. walked with one out. The runners advanced when McLean bounced a curveball, and Garcia followed with a sac fly to center.
Abreu doubled the lead when he drove a fastball 414 feet to center. His helmet fell off when he rounded second and he hopped in excitement as he neared the plate, where he was greeted by a line of teammates.
Rodriguez allowed one hit in 4 1/3 innings before Venezuela turned to its bullpen.
U.S. players had arrived at loanDepot park in game-worn U.S. Olympic hockey jerseys coordinated by outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jack Hughes, who scored the gold medal-winning goal against Canada last month.
In a darkened ballpark filled by fans wearing wristbands with festive blinking lights, Judge and Arraez led the teams down the foul lines for the introductions while carrying their nation’s flags. (JapanToday)
Barcelona hit Newcastle United for seven to reach the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday, while Liverpool overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Galatasaray in their last-16 tie and both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid advanced to the next round.
Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski both scored twice as La Liga leaders Barcelona tore apart Newcastle at the Camp Nou, winning 7-2 in the second leg of their last-16 encounter to progress 8-3 on aggregate.
A spectacular match saw Anthony Elanga twice score for Newcastle inside the opening half-hour to cancel out goals by Raphinha and Marc Bernal.
However, the Catalans went back in front when Lamine Yamal converted a penalty deep in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-2 on the night, and they never looked back.
Fermin Lopez ran through for 4-2 early in the second half before Lewandowski added a quick-fire double either side of the hour mark, and Raphinha completed the scoring in the 72nd minute.
“The confidence that we got in the second half was good to see,” said Barca coach Hansi Flick.
It was a chastening defeat for Newcastle and just the third time since 1955 that an English team has conceded at least eight goals on aggregate in a European tie — one of the other occasions was this week, when Chelsea lost 8-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain.
“When the game was effectively over we didn’t react well to that, so it became a very difficult second half,” said Newcastle coach Eddie Howe.
It was also just the third time Barcelona have scored seven in a Champions League game, and Flick’s side can now look forward to an all-Spanish quarter-final next month against Atletico.
Diego Simeone’s men lost 3-2 on the night to Tottenham Hotspur in London, but progressed 7-5 on aggregate thanks to their 5-2 victory last week.
Randal Kolo Muani headed in on the half-hour to give Spurs the lead on the night and suggest a stunning comeback in the tie was possible.
A superb Julian Alvarez strike just after half-time doused the home side’s hopes, even if a fine Xavi Simons effort put Tottenham back in front.
David Hancko headed in Atletico’s second on the night, before Simons converted a last-minute penalty for his second of the game as Spurs rescued some pride by ending a run of eight matches without a win.
Liverpool were too good for Galatasaray, overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit against the Turkish side with a comprehensive 4-0 win at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s side went ahead on 25 minutes through a lovely first-time finish at a corner from Dominik Szoboszlai.
Mohamed Salah then had a poor penalty saved in first-half stoppage time, but the Egyptian made up for that in style after the break.
He laid on two goals in the space of three minutes, one for Hugo Ekitike and the other for Ryan Gravenberch.
Salah then scored the fourth himself just after the hour, curling a superb effort into the far corner from the edge of the area from a Florian Wirtz lay-off.
It was his 10th club goal this season was also his 50th in the Champions League, and it sealed a 4-1 aggregate victory which takes the Reds through to a quarterfinal against PSG.
That will be a repeat of a last-16 tie a year ago which PSG won on penalties — the French club have won four knockout ties against English opponents since the start of 2025.
“We could (have) won 10-0, but we did a good job. We can be proud,” said Ekitike.
Bayern’s progress against Atalanta was never in doubt after their 6-1 win in the first leg in Italy, and they followed that with a 4-1 success in Munich.
Harry Kane opened the scoring with a retaken first-half penalty — his initial effort had been saved — and then added a brilliant second on 54 minutes.
The brace took the Englishman to a half-century of Champions League goals, as he joined Salah and Thierry Henry on that overall mark — Kane has done it in 66 games compared to 97 for Salah.
Teenager Lennart Karl got Bayern’s third and Luis Diaz the fourth, with Lazar Samardzic pulling one back as the Germans progress 10-2 on aggregate — they now face Real Madrid in a heavyweight showdown.
“We don’t fear anyone,” Kane told DAZN when asked about the prospect of that tie. (JapanToday)
Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after the country was stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title on Tuesday.
“The Senegalese Football Federation condemns this unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision, which brings African football into disrepute,” it said in a statement.
“To defend its rights and the interests of Senegalese football, the federation will, as soon as possible, file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.”
Several Senegalese players controversially walked off the pitch in Rabat during the final on January 18 in protest when the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.
After Senegal’s players eventually returned having been coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, Morocco missed the penalty and Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time that gave his team a 1-0 victory.
CAF said that having studied Morocco’s appeal, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.
The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations, which state that if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered (loser) and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition”.
The articles add that the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match by 3-0”.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said in a statement its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.
“The Federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, to the clarity of the competitive framework, and to the stability of African competitions,” the statement added.
Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“The Senegalese Football Federation condemns this unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision, which brings African football into disrepute,” it said in a statement.
Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest the late penalty awarded to Morocco.
The controversial spot-kick was awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala right at the end of the allotted eight added minutes in normal time following a VAR check for a challenge on Brahim Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.
The game was goalless at the time and Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with the spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time.
But Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted ‘Panenka’ chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
The game at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium then went to extra time, and Gueye’s brilliant 94th-minute strike won it for Senegal.
Several of the team’s players posted on social media after the announcement that they had been stripped of the title.
Defender Moussa Niakhate, who plays for French club Lyon, posted a picture of himself lifting the Africa Cup of Nations trophy with a message that said “they’re mad”, in an apparent reference to CAF.
In the immediate aftermath of the final, FIFA president Gianni Infantino had condemned “some Senegal players” for the “unacceptable scenes”.
“It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner, and equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport, it is simply not right,” Infantino, who attended the match, said.
In late January, CAF imposed a series of disciplinary sanctions, including fines amounting to several hundred thousand euros, on the federations of both countries for unsportsmanlike conduct and violations of fair play principles.
The appeal trial of 18 Senegalese supporters, imprisoned since the final and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to one year for “hooliganism,” which was scheduled to take place on Monday, has been postponed until March 30. (Channels)
English