The Confederation of African Football (CAF) says it is investigating the matter and “will not make any further comment on this matter until the investigation is complete.”
Moroccan and DR Congo players and staff got into a heated brawl at the Laurent Pokou stadium in San Pedro, Ivory Coast, following their 1-1 draw on Sunday in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Achraf Hakimi put Morocco ahead after six minutes, but Silas Mvumpa equalised for DR Congo in the 76th minute.
However, the brawl that continued in the tunnels between the two teams started after a heated exchange between Morocco’s coach Walid Regragui and DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba.
After the game, Mbemba, who claimed that he was insulted by the Moroccan coach, received racist and hateful comments and emojis on one of his Instagram posts from purported Moroccan fans.
He told the media, “I respect the coach, who is a great man. The TV cut the videos, but I have them. I don’t need to swing them. I keep my silence; it’s better; that’s how I am. Everyone knows me; I respect everyone; I don’t need to shoot anyone but God’s justice is there.”
Regragui on what happened
The Moroccan coach also told the L’Equipe: “I said to Desabre [Dr Congo’s coach]: ‘Bring him back to me; he’s going crazy, he’s talking nonsense. I didn’t like it because it insinuates a lot of things.
“So if he has images other than what we see on television, let him take them out, with pleasure. And he’ll see exactly what happened. And that’s what happened… Before I went to shake his hand, he took me and my assistant to task on the sidelines. Before the end of the game, he spoke badly to us. And Desabre knows it.
“And at the end, despite that, I’m going to shake his hand and say, “Why are you talking to me like that?” And then he looks away, like, ‘I’m not shaking your hand.’ I held his hand—you can see it in the pictures—and he started screaming all over the place.
“I said, “You’re telling it to yourself!” And he’s like, ‘You called me an idiot!’ It’s okay that he heard that, even though I never said it, but by speaking the way he did, he’s implying that my words are racist; it’s dishonest. Since he only talks about religion in his speech, let him be a little honest with himself.”
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Morocco leads group F with four points from two games, with DR Congo and Zambia trailing by two points, while Tanzania is at the bottom with just a point.
The Atlas Lions face Zambia in their final group match tomorrow, while DR Congo will battle with Tanzania for a spot in the knockout stage.
