AFCON: Tunisia vs Mali officials escorted from pitch after referee blew whistle BEFORE 90 minutes

The Africa Cup of Nations descended into chaos on Tuesday after farcical scenes involving the referee in Tunisia’s opening group stage clash with Mali.

Official Janny Sikazwe blew the final whistle after just 85 minutes before restarting play, but then blew again with just 89 minutes and 43 seconds of the Group F clash gone.

His mistake drew a furious reaction from Tunisia’s bench, with boss Mondher Kebaier furiously grabbing the arm of the Zambian referee and pointing to his watch in the immediate aftermath of the full-time whistle. 

The Tunisia head coach was then joined by his backroom staff in protesting, with Kebaier confronting one of the linesmen to complain about the game being brought to a premature end.

Security staff had to surround Sikazwe, who refereed at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and his two officials at the Limbe Stadium in Cameroon in order to keep angry Tunisia staff away from them.

And once the latter were ushered away by the security personnel, they then escorted those officiating the game off the pitch shortly afterwards.

Referees had to be escorted off the pitch after the referee appeared to blew full time prematurely twice

Tunisia coach Mondher Kebaier (R) was furious with Zambia referee Janny Sikazwe (L)

The protests continued as Kebaier was joined by members of his backroom staff

Mali coach Mohamed Magassouba’s post-match press conference was later interrupted, with Confederation of African Football officials barging in and saying the match will be re-started to play out the final three minutes. 

Fans were then seen filing back into the stands as the referees discussed the situation on the touchlines. 

However in the final dramatic twist, Tunisia appeared to refuse to come out and play the final three minutes, although Sikazwe and Mali did wait for them.

The Zambian official then blew the whistle calling off the match, meaning full time has now officially been called.

There have since been suggestions the error possibly came when Sikazwe stopped the match for a five-minute water break, but could have failed to stop his watch. 

Kebaier even confronted one of the linesmen to protest against the referee’s decision

And after security had gradually ushered Tunisia’s bench away, the officials followed them off

The game saw two VAR interruptions, the first awarding a penalty to Tunisia in the second half

Wahbi Khazri saw his effort saved by Mali goalkeeper Ibrahima Mounkoro 13 minutes from time

That mistake saw his watch run to 90 minutes while the actual time had just reached the 85th minute, leading to possible subsequent confusion when playing on for four more minutes only, believing that that was added time.

Tunisia however were seemingly making a valid point with their initial protests, with two VAR checks taking place during the Group F clash. 

The first VAR review took place with less than 15 minutes of the game remaining, when the technology awarded a penalty to Tunisia following Moussa Djenepo’s handball, only for Wahbi Khazri to see his effort saved by Mali goalkeeper Ibrahima Mounkoro 13 minutes from time.

Eight minutes later Sikazwe blew the first of his final whistles, though made up for his poor timekeeping by correcting his mistake and allowing the game to resume.

But two minutes later there was yet more drama when El Bilal Toure – brought on by Mali in the 81st minute for Southampton’s Djenepo – was shown a very harsh red card by Sikazwe when he challenged for the ball with Dylan Bronn and was fractionally late.

The decision went to VAR, who recommended the referee reverse his decision of dismissing Toure, but Sikazwe stuck by his decision and gave the Reims forward his marching orders. 

Then to compound Tunisia’s fury, Sikazwe blew up with more than 20 seconds of normal time remaining, with no injury time added. 

Mali therefore continued their run of never losing the first game of an AFCON campaign, with Ibrahima Kone’s 48th-minute penalty sealing a 1-0 victory.

Sikazwe then sent off Mali substitute El Bilal Toure in rather harsh circumstances late on

Mali had taken the lead early in the second half of the Group F clash through Ibrahima Kone