The meeting between Senegal and Gambia, counting for the African Cup of Nations football, was punctuated by various technical incidents. First before kick-off then during the match. Viewers even missed the last quarter of an hour of the first period.
The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations is in full swing in Ivory Coast and has already reserved some surprises. Cape Verde’s victory at the expense of Ghana (1-2), but also the draw for Egypt, finalist of the 2021 edition, against Mozambique (2-2). This Monday, on the other hand, Senegal, title holder, enforced the hierarchy against Gambia in Yamoussoukro (3-0), but the meeting was punctuated by various technical problems.
Due to a sound problem, the anthems of Senegal and Gambia were interrupted towards the end of their performance. The fans finished them off a cappella in the stands. A powerful sputter cut off “The Red Lion”, the anthem of Senegal, the words of which were written by former president Léopold-Sedar Senghor of the French Academy.
Match interrupted after half an hour of play
But the Senegalese colony at the Konan-Banny stadium sang the last verses. A few minutes later, the same mishap also prevented “For the Gambia our homeland” from going to the end, but, again, the “Scorpions” supporters sang the end of the song in full voice.
During the match, while the Terranga Lions were already leading 1-0, the broadcast was then abruptly interrupted, depriving viewers of the last quarter of an hour of the first period. All broadcast channels were affected. On the New Ivorian Channel (NCI), which broadcasts all the matches of the competition, a banner indicated “interruption of the match signal on all African channels”. On BeIN Sports, which broadcasts the competition in France, another banner specified that “technical problems” were preventing the broadcast of the match. The broadcast resumed at the start of the second half.