Zambian referee Gianni Sikazwe became the protagonist of the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations group stage match between Tunisia and Mali (0: 1).

First, the 42-year-old referee, who in his career even had to judge the games of the World Cup, decided to end the fight in the 86th minute and blew the final whistle. After the Tunisians' protests, Sikazwe resumed the game and finally signaled the end of the meeting at 89 minutes 45 seconds.

Moreover, in the second half, the teams made 9 substitutions, and the referee went to watch video replays (VAR) three times, assigned two penalties and sent off the Mali national team player. After the final whistle, the players and the coaching staff of Tunisia were outraged by the actions of Sikazve and attacked him and his assistants - the guards had to save the judges.

The story did not end there..

20 minutes after the end of the game, representatives of the African Football Confederation interrupted the press conference of the head coach of the Mali team, Mohamed Magassuba, and announced that the match would be resumed with the goal of finishing three minutes.

The meeting was supposed to resume 40 minutes after the whistle, but the Tunisian players, unlike their rivals, did not enter the field. The referees and the Mali team waited for the required time and the final whistle was blown for the third time.