George Weah Faults CAF on Decision to Strip Senegal, Calls on CAS to Right the Wrong for Sake of African Football

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Former Ballon d’Or winner and three-time African Player of the Year, George Manneh Weah, Sr, has faulted CAF’s decision to strip Senegal the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations the Teranga Lions won in Rabat last January.

Weah who won the Ballon d’Or in 1995 in addition to been crowned Africa’s best player in 1989, 1994 and 1995, is also a former president of Liberia.

In his reaction to the CAF’s Appeals Board upturning Senegal’s victory and handing the trophy to beaten finalists, Morocco, on technicalities of the rules of the competition, Weah insisted that the referee is the final authority on decisions made during the match.

“In football, the Laws of the Game are clear: the referee on the pitch is the final authority on decisions made during the match. Once play is allowed to continue and the match is completed, the result obtained on the field must stand.

“Under the applicable rules of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), match officials have full authority during the game,” began the former world footballer of the year.

Weah warned that football must be decided on the pitch, not re-decided after the final whistle.

“There is therefore no sporting justification to nullify a match that was completed in accordance with the referee’s authority and the Laws of the Game otherwise the beautiful game will head down a slippery slope where committee room officials and not match officials will be making post match rulings to override referees on-field decisions like penalties, offside and red cards.”

He admitted that the decision of the Appeals Board has further scarred and blemished African football, undermining confidence in the fairness, consistency, and integrity of football on the continent.

“ I call on  the Court  of Arbitration for Sports(CAS) and other relevant authorities to move decisively so that this travesty does not stand,” emphasised the former AC Milan forward.

Weah clarified that social media posts widely circulating claiming that he “supported the decision by CAF Disciplinary Committee against Senegal is blatantly false.  All those circulating my image and attaching same to such fallacious statements are advised to refrain,” he chastised perpetrators of the deeds on social media.