A Look Back: Moroccan Team's Walkout at the 1976 AFCON Finals

The 1976 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), hosted by Ethiopia, culminated in Morocco achieving their maiden AFCON title amid notable controversy.

During the decisive final match of the group phase, Moroccan players staged a walkout before securing a crucial point that led to their title victory.

This particular AFCON was distinctive due to its experimental format of a final, four-team group to determine the champion, a controversial approach that was ultimately deemed unsuccessful and not adopted in subsequent tournaments.

Morocco reached the final group stage as the winners of Group B, alongside Nigeria's Green Eagles, who finished in second place. Guinea emerged at the top of Group A, while Egypt rounded out the final four teams by finishing second in their group.

At that time, teams were awarded two points for a victory and one point for a draw. Morocco triumphed in their initial two matches of the final round, while Guinea drew with Nigeria, setting up a decisive showdown between Guinea and Morocco that would determine the AFCON champion.

On the 33rd minute of the match, Guinea took the lead through Cherif Souleymane. However, the match turned contentious after Zambian referee Nyirenda Chayu issued a red card to Morocco's Abdallah Semmat following a disputed foul on Papa Camara. This decision prompted Morocco's players to leave the pitch in protest, remaining off for roughly 15 minutes while negotiations took place.

Eventually, play resumed, and despite being down to ten men, Morocco equalized with a stunning long-range effort from Ahmed Makrouh in the 86th minute. This draw granted Morocco first place in the group with five points, ahead of Guinea by one point, thus clinching their first AFCON title.

Following the conclusion of AFCON '76, there was a return to the knockout tournament format, along with the introduction of the walkover rule. This rule states that victory is granted to the team that remains on the field, while the protesting team forfeits the match and faces a fine.

Interestingly, Nigeria was the first team to benefit from this rule during the third-place match of the 1978 AFCON against Tunisia. The Carthage Eagles left the pitch in the 42nd minute in protest, leading to Nigeria receiving a 2-0 win for bronze.

This year, a similar incident unfolded when the Senegalese team departed the pitch due to a controversial penalty awarded to Morocco late in the finals.

On January 18 in Rabat, Senegal's squad exited the pitch, led by coach Pape Thiaw, protesting the late penalty given to Morocco.

After a 15-minute pause, the match resumed but saw Morocco's Brahim Diaz miss the penalty. In the extra time, Pape Gueye scored the match-winning goal, granting Senegal their second AFCON championship.

However, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) subsequently stripped Senegal of the AFCON title.

In a surprising announcement on Tuesday, CAF's appeals board declared Senegal would forfeit the match, officially recording the result as a 3-0 victory in favor of host nation Morocco.