Senegal federation to appeal to CAS over ‘unacceptable’ AFCON title stripping

The Senegalese Football Federation has announced its intention to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after the country was stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title.

The Confederation of African Football announced the decision on Tuesday evening to award victory to Morocco two months after the acrimonious conclusion to the tournament.

An appeal board determined the Senegal team had forfeited the match when they left the field in protest at a disputed penalty deep in stoppage time.

Responding via a statement on X, the Senegal federation branded the decision “iniquitous, unprecedented and unacceptable”, saying it “threw discredit on African football”.

“For the defence of the rights and interests of Senegalese football, the federation will engage, with the shortest delay, an appeal procedure before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne,” the statement added.

The walk-off, instigated by Senegal coach Pape Thiaw, led to a lengthy delay, and, when the game was belatedly restarted, Brahim Diaz saw his spot-kick saved by Edouard Mendy.

Pape Gueye went on to score the winning goal in extra time but there was unrest in the crowd and recriminations in the aftermath.

Having studied the circumstances, the appeal board took the unprecedented step of reversing the result, awarding a 3-0 win to Morocco, who are now celebrating their second AFCON title.

A statement on Tuesday evening read: “The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the regulations… the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the final match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations with the result of the match being recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Federation Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF).

“All other motions or prayers for relief are dismissed.”

Among the Senegal players to lose their champion status are former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane, Everton pair Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye, Chelsea’s Mamadou Sarr and his on-loan team-mate Nicolas Jackson, Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr, West Ham’s El Hadji Malick Diouf and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr.

Posting on Instagram, Gueye said: “Titles, trophies, medals… all of this is fleeting. What really counts is that each each supporter can go home and be reunited with their family.

“The Senegalese people have shown what they are: dignified in victory, dignified in adversity. We know what we experienced that evening in Rabat. And that, no one can take away from us.”

Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui, meanwhile, can savour a belated triumph alongside Paris St Germain’s Achraf Hakimi and Real Madrid’s Diaz.

Morocco welcomed the verdict in an initial response, which read: “The federation wishes to recall that its approach has never been intended to challenge the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition’s regulations.

“The federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, ensuring clarity in the competitive framework, and maintaining stability within African competitions.

“It also wishes to commend all the nations that took part in this edition of the AFCON, which has been a major moment for African football.”

Bookmaker Paddy Power posted on X to say that any single or multiple bets on Morocco to win would now be paid out.

Brian O’Keeffe, a spokesperson for BOYLE Sports, said it was also paying out on bets on Morocco to win.