RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Sébastien Haller, who led host nation Ivory Coast to the Africa Cup of Nations title in the last edition, has been ruled out of the tournament starting on Sunday because of injury.
The Ivorian Federation of Football said on social media on Friday that Haller will miss the event in Morocco because of an injury sustained while playing for Dutch team Utrecht. Haller reportedly injured his hamstring in a match against NAC Breda last Sunday.
He was to be replaced in the Ivorian squad by Aston Villa player Evann Guessand.
Haller missed the start of the 2023 Africa Cup because of an ankle injury but he returned to score winning goals against Congo in the semifinals and Nigeria in the final as the host team completed a remarkable turnaround after near elimination.
Haller became the team’s hero one year after returning from cancer treatment.
Ivory Coast begins its title defense on Wednesday against Mozambique. Host Morocco plays the opening match against Comoros in Rabat on Sunday.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Ivory Coast 's Sebastien Haller celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the African Cup of Nations final soccer match between Ivory Coast and Nigeria, at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor whipped out her cell phone in a post-match interview and replayed footage of a hair-pulling incident missed by match officials in the Women's Champions League game against Arsenal.
The clip played by Bompastor in a TV interview showed Arsenal defender Katie McCabe pulling back the flowing hair of Chelsea forward Alyssa Thompson as the U.S. international broke forward in the final seconds in search of a goal to take Wednesday's game to extra time.
The French coach, who felt McCabe should have been sent off, complained to Danish referee Frida Klarlund from the sideline and was shown a red card. Bompastor continued to vent her anger afterward.
“I brought the phone with me — I don’t know if you can see that. That’s probably not usual,” said Bompastor, who held up the screen and pressed play to show the incident. “But if you look at this video, and I don’t know if you can see, for me it is clearly a red card for the Arsenal player. She’s pulling Alyssa’s hair. So I think, for me, if the VAR again is not able to check that situation, I don’t know why we have the VAR.”
Bompastor said Thompson “was crying” after the incident, which happened soon after Chelsea scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to make it 1-0. That’s how it stayed and Arsenal advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
McCabe took to social media after the game, posting on Instagram Stories: “I just want to clarify that I was genuinely reaching for the shirt, I wouldn’t ever want to pull someone’s hair. Full respect to Thompson.”
UEFA was still waiting on Thursday for the match delegate’s report.
Hair-pulling can be regarded as violent conduct and punished with a red card, as was the case in the Women's European Championship last year when the video assistant referee spotted Germany midfielder Kathrin Hendrich yanking the ponytail of France captain Griedge Mbock at a free kick.
In men's soccer, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder João Neves was sent off for pulling down Marc Cucurella by his hair toward the end of Chelsea’s 3-0 victory in the Club World Cup final last year.
In the Premier League, Everton defender Michael Keane was sent off in January after a video review for pulling the hair of Wolverhampton's Tolu Arokodare as they competed for a header. Everton failed with an appeal to the Football Association that it did not constitute violent conduct.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Chelsea's Alyssa Thompson, right, and a teammate react following defeat in the Women's Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match against Arsenal in London, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)
