During the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Morocco, which Senegal won 1-0 after extra time, a controversy erupted over towels placed near the Senegalese goal. Several ball boys, staff members, and even some Moroccan players repeatedly tried to grab the towels or move them away from the opposing goalkeeper, causing surprising scenes of confusion and viral reactions on social media.
Why were these towels important?
In a match played in torrential rain, as was the case in Rabat, these towels were not simply decorative accessories: Goalkeepers use them to dry their gloves and face, which is crucial to improve glove grip and prevent accidental ball drops in wet conditions. A goalkeeper who cannot effectively dry his gloves risks losing performance and having his ability to catch or release the ball affected. This explains why Édouard Mendy, the Senegalese goalkeeper, had carefully placed several towels near his goal.
Mendy's replacement, Yehvann DioufHe had to intervene on numerous occasions to protect these towels. He physically intervened to prevent them from being removed or thrown further away, sometimes lying down on the ground to protect them while Moroccan ball boys tried to snatch them away…
Repeated attempts to seize the towels
Videos shared on social media showed that Several ball boys were taking towels, at the request of the Moroccan players. to throw them into the crowd or away from the goal. In some sequences, the captain of Morocco, Achraf Hakimi, was seen throwing a towel over the advertising boards, and midfielder Ismaël Saibari appeared to try to hold onto a towel as it was being thrown back.
This type of behavior was not unprecedented: during previous matches of the competition, notably in the semi-final against Nigeria, ball boys had already taken another goalkeeper's towels, forcing the player to return to the bench several times to get new ones…
Senegal's reserve goalkeeper calms things down
At the end of the match, Yahvann Diouf, Senegal's substitute goalkeeper, gave his perspective on the controversy, stating: “For me, they were just towels, nothing more, to dry his gloves and face. Maybe there’s a bit of a fuss about those towels, but for me, it was something ordinary. I was just as surprised as you when I saw them trying to take them. We’d already seen with Nigeria that every time towels were put out, the stewards usually came behind them to collect them. I don’t think that was fair play, at least not on their part. After that, I tried to make sure Doudou was in the best possible condition, because we need guys like him 100% focused on the pitch.”
