By Kazeem Ajibola Shoyebo
Former AFCON winner Hervé Renard has defended the controversial towel incident in the AFCON 2025 final between Senegal and Morocco, describing it as a culturally significant object aimed at disrupting the Teranga Lions, with Europeans unable to comprehend African beliefs.
“The towel is something too long to explain, but it’s an object that has meaning, that’s all! So if someone wanted to remove it, it was to disrupt things, but people in Europe don’t understand that there’s something behind it,” Renard stated in a recent *Colinterview* appearance.
The drama unfolded during Senegal’s extra-time victory over hosts Morocco in the AFCON 2025 final, where reserve goalkeeper Yéhvann Diouf heroically protected teammate Édouard Mendy’s sideline towel from Moroccan players and ball boys attempting to remove it. Similar towel tussles occurred earlier, including Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabali facing interference, fueling social media witchcraft rumors.
CAF referees chief Olivier Safari later clarified towels near goals violate FIFA guidelines as potential unsporting influences, banning them outright—not due to superstition.
Renard, now Saudi Arabia’s coach and ex-handler of Zambia (2012 champ) and Côte d’Ivoire (2015), laughed off queries: “Was the towel ‘blessed’? Well, these are beliefs—everyone believes in what they want. Those who don’t know Africa can’t understand, and Moroccans don’t let themselves be pushed around.”
“I don’t know if it happened or not, but I’ve already lived through this kind of context on this continent! The king of this world silences the vipers,” he added, framing it as familiar African rivalry tactics.
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