Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze hasn’t held back on his feelings regarding the dark arts of continental football, aiming a swipe at North African teams for what he describes as a sense of “entitlement.”
Kaze’s comments came in the wake of a chaotic 2025 AFCON final between Senegal and hosts Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat this past Sunday.
While the spectacle was meant to be a celebration of the African game, it was nearly derailed by an unprecedented 17-minute standoff when Senegal attempted a walkout to protest a late penalty decision.
Speaking ahead of Chiefs’ return to Betway Premiership action against Golden Arrows on Tuesday night [19:30] at FNB Stadium, the Burundian tactician was firm. While officiating can be polarising, the reaction from the Teranga Lions was a bridge too far.
“To walk out of the field, that’s not good,” Kaze said in Naturena on Monday. “That’s a precedent we should all condemn and not allow it to be a way of protesting.
“Personally, I think that penalty was true. He grabbed him. Maybe they can talk about the previous action—the disallowed goal for Senegal—that’s another story. But the penalty itself was correct.”
‘SHAMEFUL FOR AFRICAN FOOTBALL’: KAZE CONDEMNS SENEGAL’S AFCON FINAL WALK-OUT
The chaos in Rabat was sparked by a frantic sequence of events in stoppage time that left the Senegalese bench convinced of a double standard. In the 92nd minute, Senegal believed they had scored the winner via Ismaïla Sarr, but the goal was chalked off for a foul by Abdoulaye Seck on Achraf Hakimi. Because the whistle blew before the ball crossed the line, VAR could not intervene.
The frustration turned to fury just minutes later when the referee used VAR to award Morocco a 98th-minute penalty for El Hadji Malick Diouf’s challenge on Brahim Díaz. To the Teranga Lions, the contrast was unbearable: their goal was dismissed for “minimal contact” without a review, while the hosts were handed a lifeline for a similar incident after a lengthy video check. This perceived bias was the final straw that triggered the 17-minute walk-out.
However, the AFCON drama served as a springboard for Kaze to address a seemingly deeper, more systemic issue he believes plagues African competition: the psychological and tactical manipulation employed by powerhouse clubs, particularly those from the north.
KAZE CALLS OUT NORTH AFRICAN “DISHONESTY” IN CONTINENTAL FOOTBALL
“There are some teams from some parts of Africa that think they are entitled to win in any way,” Kaze remarked. “And then when things don’t go their way, they do everything to make things happen. They even do things that sometimes are not honest.”
Kaze’s frustrations are forged in the trenches of the CAF Confederation Cup. He pointed specifically to Chiefs’ Group D battle against Egyptian giants Zamalek SC to illustrate the double standards he sees on the pitch.
“I will give you an example of a game we played against Zamalek,” Kaze recalled. “We conceded a goal after two or three minutes, but for the rest of the 90 minutes, their players were falling down. Every time the ball went out, they would sit down—the goalkeeper as well. That is the mentality. They think they are entitled to that, but when you do it to them, they start complaining.”
The AFCON final eventually resumed after a 17-minute delay, largely thanks to the leadership of Sadio Mané, who convinced his teammates to return to the pitch despite coach Pape Thiaw’s initial orders to abandon the match. Senegal went on to win 1-0 in extra time, but for Kaze, the stain on the game’s image remained.
“Everything was not negative; most of the things were positive, and the games were high level,” Kaze admitted. “But there are things we saw during the final that are shameful for African football. I don’t always agree with the referee, but you cannot just leave the pitch.”
RELATED STORY: Mako highlights three differences between Pirates and Chiefs