Ref end AFCON match after 89 minutes

<p>Referees have had to be escorted off the pitch after the referee blew the final whistle in Tunisia’s defeat by Mali twice before 90 minutes had been played, during a furious reaction from the former.</p>, <p>The referee blew the final whistle after just 85 minutes before restarting play, but then blew again with just 89 minutes and 43 seconds of the Group F clash between the two sides in the Africa Cup of Nations gone.</p>, <p>That drew a furious reaction from Tunisia’s bench, with boss Mondher Kebaier furiously grabbing the arm of Zambia referee Janny Sikazwe and pointing to his watch in the immediate aftermath of the full-time whistle.</p>, <p>The Tunisia head coach was then joined by his backroom staff in protesting, with Kebaier even confronting one of the linesmen to complain about the game being brought to a premature end.</p>, <p>ALSO READ: Female referee to take charge of England men’s game</p>, <p>Soon enough, security staff had surrounded Sikazwe and his two officials at the Limbe Stadium in Cameroon and holding off any complaints from Tunisia’s staff.</p>, <p>And once the latter were ushered away by the security personnel, they then escorted those officiating the game off the pitch shortly afterwards.</p>, <p>Mali coach Mohamed Magassouba’s post-match press conference was then interrupted, with Confederation of African Football officials barging in and saying the match will be re-started to play out the final three minutes.</p>, <p>And that would appear to be just if that is how it plays out, with Tunisia seemingly making a valid point with two VAR checks taking place during the Group F clash.</p>, <p>The first VAR review took place with less than 15 minutes of the game remaining, when the technology awarded a penalty to Tunisia, only for Wahbi Khazri to see his effort saved by Mali goalkeeper Ibrahima Mounkoro 13 minutes from time.</p>, <p>Eight minutes later Sikazwe blew the first of his final whistles, only to then correct his mistake and allow the game to resume.</p>, <p>ALSO READ: Female refere