THE CAF DECISION ON SENEGAL

CAF’s decision to award Morocco the 2025 AFCON trophy is unfortunate

African football is currently going through a serious turmoil as a consequence of the decision by the Appeals Board of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). After the country had won the trophy on the field of play, CAF now seeks to retrieve the trophy and hand it to Morocco after a controversial boardroom decision. That move has not only caused ripples in the continent but has also become a source of social media jokes. The global football community is also watching in an incredulous manner how the matter will pan out.

 We all recall that Senegal defeated Morocco 1-0 in the final of the delayed 2025 AFCON played on 18 January 2026 in Rabat. That game was overshadowed by the refusal of the Senegalese players to continue playing after the host country was awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless. Senegal’s Head Coach, Pape Thiaw had encouraged his players to leave the field of play in protest, with only former Liverpool forward, Sadio Mane remaining. Following a delay of about 17 minutes, the players eventually returned and Brahim Diaz’s penalty for Morocco was saved. Senegal’s Pape Gueye later scored the winner. 

However, last Tuesday, CAF announced that Senegal had been “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3–0 in favour” of Morocco. In reaching that decision, CAF’s Appeals Board, headed by a Nigerian Judge, Justice Roli Harriman, said Senegal contravened Article 82 and 84 of the competition regulations. Article 82 in particular states that if a team “leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, they are eliminated”.

Those contesting the decision of the Appeals Board point at the resumption of play by the referee when the Senegalese players returned after their protest. Both Morocco and Senegal players and coaches had earlier been punished by CAF’s Disciplinary Committee for the events that led to the stoppage of the game after the penalty was awarded. The referee, Jean-Jacques Ngambo Ndala, did not call off the match when the Senegalese left the pitch. For the match to have resumed and the penalty played by Morocco, the position of the Board of Appeals is indeed questionable. Only the rule of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), football’s lawmaking body for FIFA, can subsist here. For the referee to allow the game to resume and be concluded, only Rule 5.2 of the Laws of the Game can apply. That rule says: “The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final.”

Expectedly, the Senegalese government has denounced CAF’s attempt to take the AFCON 2025 away from them. They also called for an “independent international investigation” into “suspected corruption” at African football’s governing body. The “unprecedented and exceptionally serious decision” was based on “a manifestly erroneous interpretation of the regulations, leading to a grossly illegal and deeply unjust decision. Senegal unequivocally rejects this unjustified attempt at dispossession,” their government claimed while giving notice that it will proceed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to appeal CAF’s decision.

Since CAF must find a way to clean up this mess that can only further de-markets the AFCON brand, we hope that the CAS in Lausanne will save the situation with the appropriate decision. But football authorities on the continent must learn lessons from this mess and get their act together. They cannot continue to act with dishonour and expect to gain the respect of the world. Enough of conducts that cast aspersions on our people.