**The Mali Football Federation (FMF) made a protest to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) over the Angola versus Algeria game.**Mali claim the sides purposefully played out a goalless draw that ensured they both progressed to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.
However, Algeria’s Hameur Bouazza insists his side were trying to win.
“We wanted to keep the ball and we knew Mali were winning 3-1 and we tried to score the goal,” he said.
The draw in the final Group A game resulted in Algeria finishing level on four points with Mali, who beat Malawi 3-1 in their final match.
Algeria, though, advanced thanks to their better head-to-head record with Mali after the Desert Foxes beat the Eagles in their group game.
In their protest to Caf the FMF claimed the attitude of both sides was contrary to Fifa’s ethics of fair play.
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The FMF also stated that Caf had taken action in the past, for instance neither Cameroon nor Egypt were given points for a draw that occurred at the 2001 African Junior Championship.
However, Angola defender Rui Marques insisted there was nothing untoward.
“I don’t think any team wants to take the risk of conceding a goal and maybe going out of the tournament,” he told BBC Sport.
"In the first half they started much better than us that’s why we were a little bit scared of conceding a goal which was a big, big risk for us.
“In the second half we were better but the football just didn’t happen.”