Rioting supporters shamed Senegal this weekend as a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ivory Coast was abandoned late in the second half. Fires were lit using rubbish inside the 60,000-seat Stade Leopold Senghor in Dakar and stones, chairs and bottles hurled on to the pitch while footballers, coaches, officials and visiting fans sought centre-circle cover.
The fuse that lit anger among Senegalese supporters was a penalty converted by Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba 15 minutes from time that gave the top ranked African nation a 2-0 lead on the night and a 6-2 aggregate advantage.
China-based Drogba, the elder in a 'golden generation'of Ivorian footballers chasing elusive Cup of Nations winners' medals, also scored the opener from a powerfully struck free-kick soon after half-time.
After a 40-minute delay while security officials battled to restore calm, the match was abandoned and Ivory Coast are sure to be awarded the tie and a place at the Cup of Nations tournament in South Africa next January and February. Confederation of African Football (CAF) officials made no immediate comment on the violence, but Senegal are sure to face severe punishment with a number of options available.
These include forcing Senegal to play competitive matches outside the country for a specific period and banning the country from a certain number of qualifying competitions for the premier African football tournament.
The disgraceful scenes in Dakar overshadowed a dramatic weekend of action with defending champions Zambia, Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia securing places with another eight up for grabs later Sunday. Morocco scored twice in the closing minutes through Youssef El Arabi and Nordin Amrabat before a sell-out 45,000 Marrakech crowd to thrash 10-man Mozambique 4-0 and banish memories of a shock two-goal first-leg loss.
Highly promising Spain-based midfielder Abdelaziz Berrada broke the deadlock before half-time and Mozambique had Almiro Lobo red carded after conceding a penalty, which Hocine Kharja converted to draw the teams level on aggregate.
It took a 20-penalty Kampala shootout to separate Zambia and Uganda with the visitors winning it 9-8 when Patrick Ochan missed. The home team won the return match 1-0 through a Geoffrey Massa goal.
Ghana travelled to Malawi sitting on a two-goal cushion and snatched the lone goal in Lilongwe after just three minutes when late call-up Afriyie Acquah scored his first international goal in his first start for the Black Stars.
Nigeria, one of several shock absentees from the 2012 Cup of Nations, booked a ticket to Johannesburg in style by whipping Liberia 6-1 in Calabar with Chelsea team-mates Victor Moses (two) and John Obi Mikel (one) among the goals.
Mali were equally impressive as a severely weakened team triumphed 4-1 in Botswana thanks to goals from Cheick Tidiane Diabate, Modibo Maiga, Mamadou Samassa and Abdou Traore to complete a 7-1 overall victory. But Tunisia needed the away-goal rule to secure a place after being held 0-0 in Monastir by Sierra Leone, who played more than half the match a man short because Djibril Sonko was sent off.