{"id":27004,"date":"2026-01-19T23:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T23:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/?p=27004"},"modified":"2026-01-19T23:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T23:38:07","slug":"senegal-defender-hints-at-unexplained-events-after-afcon-final-illnesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kick442.com\/fr\/senegal-defender-hints-at-unexplained-events-after-afcon-final-illnesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Senegal defender hints at unexplained events after AFCON final illnesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Angu Lesley<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Senegal full\u2011back Isma\u00efl Jakobs has suggested it was \u201cno coincidence\u201d that three of his team-mates fell ill around the time of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final against Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after Senegal\u2019s dramatic 1\u20110 victory in Rabat, Jakobs said:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A lot happened before the match. I think a lot will come out afterwards. It wasn\u2019t just this [penalty] situation. Plenty happened before the match too. But you\u2019ll find out soon.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The remarks come after reports that Tottenham midfielder Pape Matar Sarr, Kr\u00e9pin Diatta, and Ousseynou Niang all suffered sudden illnesses during the build-up to the final. Sarr reportedly became unwell around half\u2011time, while the other two were affected during pre-match warm-ups. Some players required hospital attention.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The illnesses occurred amid a chaotic final, which saw a controversial VAR penalty decision awarded to Senegal, a temporary walk-off by the players in protest, and a late extra-time goal securing Senegal\u2019s second AFCON title.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Jakobs stopped short of making direct allegations but implied the illnesses were unusual, prompting speculation in the media and among fans. The Senegalese Football Federation, CAF, and tournament organisers have not released details on the cause of the illnesses.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The final also sparked controversy beyond the illnesses. Morocco\u2019s coach publicly criticised officiating decisions, while FIFA president Gianni Infantino condemned the chaotic scenes as damaging to the sport.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For now, attention remains on Senegal\u2019s historic win, but Jakobs\u2019 comments leave lingering questions over the unusual events that preceded one of Africa\u2019s most dramatic finals.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Angu Lesley &nbsp; Senegal full\u2011back Isma\u00efl Jakobs has suggested it was \u201cno coincidence\u201d&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":27005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,39,213,225,25,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afcon","category-african-football","category-athletes","category-caf","category-fifa","category-football"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Senegal defender hints at unexplained events after AFCON final illnesses - KICK442 Sport News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kick442.com\/fr\/senegal-defender-hints-at-unexplained-events-after-afcon-final-illnesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senegal defender hints at unexplained events after AFCON final illnesses - KICK442 Sport News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Angu Lesley &nbsp; 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