The mayhem continued in Ghana as Sudanese players were involved in a skirmish with Egyptian journalists on the eve of their crucial meeting in Group C.
A day after Benin coach Reinhard Fabisch claimed to have been offered a bribe to influence the result of their match with Mali, extraordinary scenes took place at the Sudan squad's Kumasi hotel after security guards and the Ghanaian police were summoned to calm down a fracas thought to have been started by Sudanese refusals to grant interviews to an Egyptian television crew.
No Egyptian players were involved in the incident but it brings into focus tomorrow's match between the two sides, where defeat will probably end Sudan's chances of progressing to the last eight.
Meanwhile, Reinhard Fabisch claims to have been bribed on two separate occasions and has provided Ghanaian officials with the name and telephone number of one of his suspicious acquaintances.
There is no suggestion of foul play on the Benin coach's part but the tournament once again brings into question the issue of corruption in the African game.
Among the drama off the pitch, the two matches in Sekondi have put one of the pre-tournament favourites on the brink of elimination.
Ivory Coast started slowly against Benin in the earlier match before Didier Drogba opened the scoring in the 40th minute, latching onto a through ball from Barcelona midfielder Yaya Touré.
Touré doubled the lead four minutes later with a tap-in from his brother Kolo's left wing cross, which followed some adept individual work down the left wing from the Arsenal defender.
Abdul Kader Keïte sealed the win with a calm finish early in the second half after a mistake by Benin's Damien Chrysostome before Aruna Dindane headed home from Drogba's left-wing cross. Substitute Boubacar Sanogo might have made the scorline even more emphatic but was denied in a one-on-one by Rachad Chitou.
Benin improved late on, eager to leave the match with a consolation goal. It arrived in injury time through a fine header from Helsingborgs' Razak Omotoyossi - strike partner of Swedish legend Henrik Larsson in club football - whose powerful finish left Boubacar Barry helpless. The Ivorian keeper had looked prone to indecisiveness throughout the match but could have done nothing about the goal.
Nigeria had lost their opening match 1-0 to the Ivory Coast and again failed to find the net in the evening match, drawing 0-0 with Mali in the first goalless match of the tournament.
The game was by no means dull, though, with Mali's Seydou Keita particularly impressive, threatening twice to grab a winner in the second half with powerful left-foot efforts from long range. The second, in the dying minutes of the match, clipped the top of Nigeria's crossbar as the Super Eagles - not looking quite so super - nervously held on for a point.
Everton striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half and the promising Ikechukwu Uche missed from close range but coach Berti Vogts will not be remotely satisfied with his sides performance in their opening two matches.
Nigeria must now beat Benin in their final match and pray that the Ivory Coast, who are already through to the quarter finals, beat Mali - and even then Nigeria could still go out of the tournament on goals scored.
They are not the only Western African power to have made a poor start; Cameroon will tomorrow be looking to make amends for their 4-2 defeat by Egypt as they take on Zambia in a crucial game for both sides.
