What started as a minor bystander irritation snowballed into one of the strangest subplots of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 finals, the infamous ‘towel incident’ that infuriated the goalkeeper and the players faced off against the ball boys.
From being snatched by towels, thrown into the crowd and dragged across the grass to being taunted after the tournament by Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabari, the final between Senegal and Morocco exposed a pattern of unsporting behavior that had been smoldering throughout the tournament.
The Beginning: The Importance of Goalkeepers and Towels
In modern soccer, goalkeepers keep extra towels behind the goalposts to dry their gloves, and this is an important routine, especially in wet conditions.
On a drizzly Sunday night in Rabat, Edouard Mendy relied heavily on that ritual. But subsequent events turned the towel into an unexpected flashpoint.
Incident: First confrontation with Hakimi and Mendy
The first major incident occurred when Neir El Ainaoui was being treated for an injury caused by a collision with the head during a corner kick.
When play was stopped, a Moroccan player, believed to be Achraf Hakimi, picked up Edouard Mendy’s towel and threw it at a pitchside advertising board.
This action went unnoticed.
Senegal captain Sadio Mane quickly collected the towel, which sparked a brief but heated exchange between players from both teams.
Moments later, when play resumed, things escalated further.
Stadium stewards deliberately removed the same towel from behind Mendy’s goal line, leaving the Senegalese goalkeeper to look elsewhere for a replacement.
What happened to Mendy’s Towel?
As the match progressed, footage showed Moroccan ball boys and referees repeatedly obstructing the towel to Mendy.
At one point, Senegal’s second-choice goalkeeper, Yévan Diouf, took it upon himself to guard his teammates’ equipment.
Sunday night was a busy one for Senegal’s goalkeeping department.
Edouard Mendy saves Brahim Dias’ penalty in stoppage time Yévan Diouf physically shields towel from ball boy
In a particularly chaotic moment, Diouf was dragged across the lawn by ball boys as he tried to hand Mendy a towel.
He was also forced into a confrontation with PSV Eindhoven winger Ismael Saibari, who was standing between Diouf and Mendy as the Nice goalkeeper tried to hand the towel to his teammate, who currently plays for Al Ahly in Saudi Arabia.
“There She is”: Diouf’s Instagram post
After Senegal’s dramatic 1-0 victory in extra time, Yévan Diouf summed up the absurdity of the night in a scathing post on social media.
The goalkeeper shared the following photo on his Instagram story:
AFCON Winners Medal Towel
He captioned it in French:
“Okay, it’s done.”
(“There she is.”)
The post was widely interpreted as a satire at Senegal’s struggle just to get a towel behind the goal.
Yevan Diouf was not alone.
In another stage of the final, El Hadji Malik Diouf had to outrun the ball boys and sprint towards the sideline to avoid a towel thrown by Achraf Hakimi disappearing into the stands.
The pattern repeats: Nigeria’s Nwabari’s early AFCON experience
The scene in Rabat was eerily familiar.
Earlier in the tournament, Nigeria’s Super Eagles goalkeeper Stanley Nwabari endured similar treatment in the AFCON semi-final against Morocco.
Many times, Mr. Nwabari had to:
Returns to the bench to retrieve a replacement towel Chases towel snatchers on the sideline Reacts angrily to repeated interference
One video showed the goalkeeper reacting by flashing his middle finger, leaving viewers confused, but it now appears that repeated provocations are to blame.
Nuwabari mocks Morocco after losing in finals
After Morocco lost 1-0 to Senegal, Nwabari wasted no time revisiting the controversy.
The Nigerian goalkeeper took to his social media page to ridicule Moroccan players and officials, referring to the fact that he was robbed of his towel early in the tournament.
He wrote in Pidgin English:
“Let Una use all the towels she had and wipe her tears.”
The post went viral in the Nigerian and African football world.
Drama on the pitch: From towels to sending offs
The towel story unfolded on a night of extreme tension.
Early in stoppage time, Ismaila Sarr thought he had scored the winning goal when he hit the rebound of Abdullahi Sek’s header onto the post.
However, Cec was ruled to have committed a foul on Achraf Hakimi, making it the most controversial decision of the night.
A few minutes later, El Hadj Malik Diouf committed a foul on Brahim Diaz, giving Morocco a controversial penalty.
Senegal briefly left the pitch in protest after the decision, but Edouard Mendy then saved Dias’ Panenka attempt.
In extra time, Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye scored the decisive goal, giving Senegal a 1-0 victory.
“They took the towel and Senegal won the trophy.”
Despite the turmoil, Senegal held firm and was crowned champions once again. Victory ensured:
Senegal wins second AFCON title after three tournaments Defeats Egypt in penalty shoot-out in 2021 final in Cameroon to claim second continental title
Meanwhile, Nigeria defeated Egypt in a penalty shootout earlier in the day, with Stanley Nwabari saving spot kicks from Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmouche to claim the AFCON bronze medal.
