Iliman Ndiaye reacts to AFCON decision with clear message after Senegal stripped of title | OneFootball

Everton star has made his feelings clear on Senegal’s being stripped of their AFCON title

Iliman Ndiaye has declared Senegal as the “champions of Africa” after scoring in Everton’s win over Chelsea.

The final was overshadowed by extraordinary events in Rabat as Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw ordered his players off the pitch in the final minute of normal time in protest of El Hadji Malick Diouf being adjudged to have brought down Brahim Diaz in the area.

This allowed Les Lions to go on and clinch their second AFCON title.

However, Morocco appealed the result after the game and, almost two months later, they have been declared winners by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

CAF have ruled that Senegal “forfeited” the game by walking off the pitch, and the final has now been awarded as a 3-0 win to Morocco.

In Ndiaye’s first outing since the announcement, he celebrated his stunning strike in Everton’s 3-0 win against Chelsea with compatriot Idrissa Gana Gueye and they both held up two fingers, referencing the number of AFCON titles Senegal have.

Then at the final whistle, Ndiaye was heard on camera labelling Senegal as the “champions of Africa”.

The Senegalese Football Federation have said they will appeal the CAF decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, calling it "an unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable decision which brings discredit to African football".

Meanwhile, the Senegalese football federation's secretary general, Abdoulaye Seydou Sow, has called the decision a "shame for Africa" in an interview with public broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television Senegalaise.

“We will not back down, the law is on our side,” Sow said. “This decision is a travesty that rests on no legal basis.