Iliman Ndiaye learns his own punishment from CAF after unsavoury AFCON final scenes

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Everton star Iliman Ndiaye has been personally punished following the scenes that unfolded in the AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco.

The football world was left stunned on January 18 when Senegal players walked off the pitch after Morocco were awarded an injury-time penalty.

After Senegal had a goal ruled out just moments before, an incensed Pape Thiaw instructed his players to walk off the pitch.

After a delay of around 14 minutes, the game restarted and Brahim Diaz missed the penalty for Morocco.

Senegal went on to win the game in extra-time, but the fallout has continued and on Tuesday, representatives from both Senegal and Morocco were questioned by the CAF Disciplinary Committee.

Now, sanctions have been handed out.

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Everton winger Iliman Ndiaye receives two-match ban from CAF

Iliman Ndiaye was one of two Senegal players to be questioned by CAF about the scenes that unfolded during the AFCON final.

The other was Ismaila Sarr. Manager Thiaw was also questioned.

From Morocco, Ismael Saibari and captain Achraf Hakimi were questioned.

A verdict was expected relatively soon after the hearing, and last night the CAF Disciplinary Board announced that it had imposed numerous sanctions.

And Everton winger Ndiaye has received a two-match ban for his involvement in the unsavoury scenes.

As per CAF’s official website, the punishments are as follows:

Senegal

• Pape Thiaw – Five-game ban and £72,000 fine (unsporting conduct and bringing the game into disrepute)
• Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr – Two-game ban each (unsporting behaviour towards the referee)
• Senegalese Football Federation – £444,000 fine (improper conduct of their supporters, unsporting conduct of their players and technical staff, and misconduct of their National Team, due to five of their players having received cautions)

Morocco

• Ismael Saibari – Three-game ban and £72,000 fine (unsporting behaviour)
• Achraf Hakimi – Two-game ban, with one game suspended for 12 months (unsporting behaviour)
• Moroccan FA – £230,000 fine (inappropriate behaviour of the stadium’s ball boys during the aforementioned match, improper conduct of their National Team players and technical staff, and use of lasers by their supporters)

The players’ bans only relate to CAF matches, so Ndiaye and the others will all be available for selection from the off at the World Cup this summer.

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A learning curve for Ndiaye

So Ndiaye will serve a two-game ban in CAF matches and hopefully this will be a learning curve for the Everton man.

What happened in the final had to have been very frustrating, and he was likely very caught up in the emotions of it all.

That he was one of only a handful of players to receive a ban is maybe not the best look, but it was a rather unique situation and he will surely learn from it.