🎥 Unhappy with the ref! Players suddenly stop dead on the pitch

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·29 March 2026

🎥 Unhappy with the ref! Players suddenly stop dead on the pitch

African football witnessed one of the most bizarre scenes in the sport’s history. The incident took place in the Ivory Coast Cup (Coupe de Côte d’Ivoire).

In protest at the referee’s performance, the players of Racing Club Abidjan simply stood still on the pitch throughout the second half. You can see what that looked like here.

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Crazy scenes in Ivory Coast. 🇨🇮 Racing Club Abidjan players stopped playing mid-match in protest of what they believed was poor officiating. No tackles. No pressing. No effort. Even the goalkeeper refused to make saves. He just stood and watched. They eventually lost 6-0 to
– Saturday, 28 March 2026

The opposing team, CO Korhogo, won the match 6–0. Of the six goals, four came in the second half – hardly surprising.

The first half had still gone normally. CO Korhogo took a 1–0 lead, then in first-half stoppage time the referee awarded the away side a penalty. Racing Club Abidjan strongly disagreed with that decision, which led to the protest after the break.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 Justin Setterfield - 2026 Getty Images

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🎥 Unhappy with the ref! Players suddenly stop dead on the pitch

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RC Abidjan

CO Korhogo

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🎥 Unhappy with the ref! Players suddenly stop dead on the pitch | OneFootball

🎥 Unhappy with the ref! Players suddenly stop dead on the pitch

OneFootball Videos

RC Abidjan

CO Korhogo

MORE STORIES