Before the start of the second half of Morocco's 2-1 victory over Malawi in the African Nations Cup final, viewers were surprised inside the stadium and on television by the referee's progress towards the Malawi goalkeeper and talking to him.

Jamal Al-Ghandour, the refereeing expert for BN Sports, revealed that the Burundian referee, Pacific Ndabehawenimana, asked Charles Thom, the Malawi goalkeeper, to remove a foreign object that was placed inside the goal before the start of the match, and it lasted for 45 minutes.

Jamal Al-Ghandour said - in the refereeing paragraph of the match - that "a successful decision by the referee Pacific to remove the objects from inside the goal. It is certain that the referee received a request from the Moroccan side because there are things that happen like magic and others, and for this he asked him to remove the towel and the water bottle, and put them outside the goal. This is a wise move by the referee when he is drawn to such matters and intervenes."

It is noteworthy that Morocco managed to turn the table on Malawi after being behind with a clean goal until the injury time of the first half, and Youssef Al-Nusairi equalized with a header in the second minute of stoppage time after a cross pass from Salim Amlah.

In the second half, Ashraf Hakimi managed to score the winning goal in the 70th minute, with a superb free kick shot that hit the upper corner of Thom's goal.