AFCON 2026: Morocco Face Criticism On Social Media Over Their Towel Snatching Act In Final Against Senegal

Hyderabad: Senegal won their second African Cup of Nations (AFCON) title on Sunday, beating Morocco in extra time during a thrilling contest. It involved a controversial penalty decision, a walkout from the Senegal team, and towel-snatching tactics from the hosts, Morocco. The hosts, who have been named Fair Play Team of the tournament, are now facing heat on social media for their towel trick.

What is the whole towel-snatching issue?

Although only the goalkeeper in the goalpost is supposed to play a crucial role in leading his team to a victory, it is evident from the videos surfacing on social media that Senegal needed two goalkeepers to play an important part. While Édouard Mendy was the custodian defending the goalpost, backup goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf protected his towel from the ball boys.

The Moroccan ball boys seemed to go all out to snatch the ball from Diouf, even dragging him across the turf. At one point, Diouf even had to fend off PSV Eindhoven winger Ismael Saibari, who was standing between him and Mendy while he was handing the towel to the latter.

Notably, this was not the first instance of Morocco employing the dirty tactics of throwing away the towel from the opposition goalkeeper. Achraf Hakimi threw the towel towards the ball boys, and El Hadji Malick Diouf had to beat them to fetch it and get it back.

Why are towels important for goalkeepers?

Towels are very important for goalkeepers as they help maintain optimal grip on the ball, which is critical to make saves, catching shots, and handling the ball confidently.

Once the latex gets saturated with water/mud or covered in debris, it becomes slippery, increasing the risk of the ball slipping through the hands during a catch, parry, or punch. This can directly lead to goals conceded — even top keepers have stories of routine catches turning into errors on wet days due to poor grip.

Morocco is facing criticism on social media

Many have criticised Morocco for the tactics they executed in the final of the AFCON 2026. Also, some of them have demanded that Morocco should be punished by CAF. The flak became more intense as they were awarded the Fair Play award despite doing the same in the fixture against Nigeria.