CAF strips Senegal of AFCON title, Morocco declared champions
Senegal will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after being stripped of its Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title, with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) awarding the trophy to Morocco following a controversial final in Rabat, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
CAF ruled that Senegal forfeited the January 18 final after players temporarily left the pitch in protest of a late penalty awarded to Morocco. The match, initially won 1-0 by Senegal after extra time, was officially recorded as a 3-0 victory for Morocco.
In a statement, CAF said that after reviewing Morocco’s appeal, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match,” citing AFCON regulations that penalize teams that “refuse to play or leave the ground before the regular end of the match.”
Morocco’s football federation stressed that its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance,” but aimed “solely to request the application of the competition regulations,” reaffirming “commitment to respecting the rules.”
Senegal strongly rejected the decision. The Senegalese Football Federation said it would appeal “as soon as possible,” condemning the ruling as “unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable… which brings African football into disrepute.”
The final was marred by chaotic scenes, including a near 20-minute stoppage after Senegal’s players protested a VAR-awarded penalty in stoppage time. Morocco failed to convert the spot-kick, and Pape Gueye later scored the winning goal in extra time.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino criticized the incident, stating: “It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner… violence cannot be tolerated in our sport.”
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Astana will host the FIFA Series 2026 international friendly football tournament from March 25 to 28.
