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Mauritania cup final sees premature penalty shootouts

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (AFP photo)

Mauritania’s football federation has denied that President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ordered, out of boredom, early penalty shoot-outs in a soccer match.

A Tuesday statement by the federation said President Abdel Aziz was not to blame for the 63rd-minute stop of the Super Cup final between FC Tevragh-Zeina and ACS Ksar last weekend, saying early penalties was announced “due ​​to organizational issues.”

There have been reports suggesting that Abdel Aziz, who was in attendance to watch the final match, abruptly called to halt the game with the score level at 1-1, before the referee signaled for early penalty shoot-outs.

The move, which apparently caused astonishment to the rest of the crowd in the stadium, came after the president reportedly became impatient with the slow tempo of the match.

Many who blame the president for the incident have expressed outrage at the decision, arguing that Abdel Aziz could wait for the end of the second half and the potential extra time to see the actual winner of the match.

Tevragh-Zeina eventually won the match but ACS Ksar fans have called for a replay.

Ahmed Ould Abderrahmane, the president of the Mauritanian football federation, said officials from the two teams had agreed on early shoot-outs.


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