The Mauritanian national team players seemed confused, some shaking their heads, after two failed attempts to play the national anthem.
The stadium announcer said that the Mauritanian players will sing the anthem themselves, but a third failed attempt was soon interrupted after the country’s old anthem was played again.
The incident came two hours after the turmoil in the Tunisia-Mali match, when the Zambian referee, Jani Sikazwe, ended the match before completing its original time, while Mali was leading 1-0.
Mali had defeated Tunisia after a match that witnessed an arbitration scandal.
Following the referee’s whistle before the end of the match, the match witnessed the return of the Mali players to complete the remaining minutes of the match without the presence of the Tunisian players, who had entered their dressing rooms in a strange and rare scene, amid Tunisian objections to the referee’s decisions.
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