Extraordinary events surround CIV qualification

The last few moments of Ivory Coast's African Cup of Nations qualifier witnessed something extraordinary: both teams sitting back and simply refusing to play football.

With the score at 0-0, both Cameroon and Ivory Coast were guaranteed a place in next year's tournament - and as the clock ran down, the sides decided to abandon any pretence of making it competitive.


The match saw only one meaningful chance: Ivory Coast's Yaya Toure had a free kick cleared off the line after a 57th-minute incident which saw Cameroon skipper Stephane Mbia inexplicably sent off for a foul, having been adjudged the last defender despite the presence of Henri Bedimo.


After that, the teams played for a draw that served them both.


There was even a happy ending for the side whose hopes were scuppered by the contrived result: DR Congo earned a spot in any case by virtue of being the best of the third-placed teams in the qualifying tournament.

The farcical scenes of static players passing the ball back and forth, with the opposing team making literally no effort to close them down, gave an almost spooky reminder of one of The Simpson's most famous sporting scenes: It would have been funny, had there not been one big problem.


Though both teams were happy, fans in the packed stadium in the Ivorian city of Abidjan ended up getting beaten by police as a riot broke out at the end of the match.


After the final whistle, fans invaded the playing area. It's nor clear whether they were celebrating qualifying for the tournament, or annoyed at how the match played out in such dull fashion.


Former Arsenal star Gervinho had his shorts pulled down by one pitch invader, several others ended up getting beaten savagely by police, and one of the goalposts was torn down in the mayhem.