The Africa Cup of Nations group F clash between Tunisia and Mali ended in controversy after Zambian match referee Janny Sikazwe blew the whistle for full time twice before 90 minutes during the match.

The Zambian match referee had to be protected from furious Tunisia players and staff after ending the match with 89:46 minutes on the clock and no stoppage time.

Referee Sikazwe first blew the final whistle five minutes before full time to the astonishment of everyone in the stadium. After realizing his mistake, the referee then restarted the match and again blew the final whistle for the second time before 90 minutes leaving Tunisia players and staff livid and outraged with the scoreline standing at 1-0 in favour of Mali.

As if there wasn’t enough drama, almost 30 minutes after the match has ended CAF officials recalled the teams to come out and play the remainder of the game but Tunisia players were nowhere to be seen on the field leaving the match referee to again blow the final whistle for the third time and award Mali the win and all three points.