The end of the Mali-Tunisia game was bonkers. The ref stopped the game at 90 minutes on the dot which prompted the Tunisian coach to confront the refs and the security guards had to be called out for protection.
AFCON is the worst, most corrupt tournament in the FIFA pantheon of dirt. A shameless money grab run by grifters, liars and thieves where virtually every referee is bought and paid for.
The ticker on the screen was actually at 89:55 when the ref blew the whistle for full time. Unfortunately, IIRC from tLOTG, once the ref blows the final whistle there is no going back and the match is final even if the ref realizes they made a mistake.
beIN is carrying every game - a lot of them on beIN extra which is available a lot of places for free.
There was that case in the World Cup where (as I recall) a UK ref blew the whistle while a corner kick was in the air....
What is going on? HANG ON A MINUTE. Half an hour later... and CAF is going to restart Tunisia v Mali!https://t.co/RBHQhJgjx1— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) January 12, 2022 EDIT: Or maybe not? A CAF official just told me that no final decision has been about the resumption of Mali vs. TunisiaDiscussions are taking place in Limbe to decide what to do— Maher Mezahi (@MezahiMaher) January 12, 2022
It's official: Mali vs Tunisia will resumeMalians are back on the pitch pic.twitter.com/l8DKWZKvvf— Maher Mezahi (@MezahiMaher) January 12, 2022
OH NO IT ISN'TTunisia have refused to come back out onto the pitch and Mali celebrate their 1-0 win for a second time. You couldn't make this up.— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) January 12, 2022
See, this is what happens when game officials are so corrupt that you can buy them but they don't stay bought. Bidding continues until.the final.whistle and, obviously, well beyond. Thank God CONCACAF referees have integrity: slip them a few bucks and they deliver the goods.
Did it, though? Gambia should be up a few, at least. Mauritania seems content to shoot from 30 yards.
At one recent point, beIN Extra was available in Columbus for the cost of a good antenna. For all I know, it still is.
Heck, it happened at a Crew road game. The clock hit 92:00 or whatever it was. We were setting up for a corner kick and the ref decided to end the game. IIRC, we ended up losing by one.
Have to be honest, I have always thought it odd to let a play continue to finish out. When the time dings on the refs watch, the game should be called and over in my mind. Might be a rule otherwise, but what I think.
The way the game flows, it is not conducive to a hard stop without being rather awkward. It's just the nature of the game, and I don't have a better explanation. I will say that where this DOES occur - primarily college soccer - the countdown, where the stadium clock is the clock of record, and there's a hard stop is just so...poor. It's an unnatural experience. Anyone who has gone to a few college games probably has felt it, too.
Is it odd that 9 out of the 12 matches played so far have a 1-0 final score? 2 at 0-0 and 1 at 2-1. Put the ball in the net fellas.
What sports with clocks don't let the last play finish? Hockey easily comes to mind. In basketball, if the shot is off when the clock hits 0.3 left, it can be a good basket. Football and soccer both let the last play finish. I'd imagine other codes (Aussie, Canadian, etc) are the same or similar. What's always seemed weird to me is the tenth-second. If the basketball clock starts at 20:00 and goes down to 1.0 and then 0.9-0.0, isn't that an extra second? Before MLS changed the clock to align with the international standard, the ref would blow the whistle at 0:00 left. If a player was on a breakaway and 25 yards from the goal, it was awkward. Plus, considering there can be stoppage time added on during stoppage time, the fourth official could signal for three minutes, but six or seven could be the final count.