How Senegal lost their AFCON title to Morocco and what next – all to know

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) made the extraordinary move on Wednesday to strip Senegal of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and award it to the defeated finalists, Morocco.

The move came after a review of an incident at the end of normal time in the January 18 final, which saw the match delayed by 14 minutes after the Senegal players left the field in protest against refereeing decisions.

What was the AFCON final controversy between Senegal and Morocco?

The Senegalese players and management were enraged by a late penalty awarded to Morocco, the hosts of the 2025 edition of AFCON, which overlapped into the new year, with the final played in Rabat.

At the very end of the allotted eight minutes of stoppage time, Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala awarded the spot kick, following a VAR review of a challenge on Morocco forward Brahim Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.

The Senegalese had already protested to the referee in the second minute of stoppage time about an Ibrahim Sarr goal they had ruled out for a foul.

Before Diaz could take the penalty, the Senegalese players and coaching staff left the field, with many believing the game might well end there.

Senegal eventually returned with Diaz, then missing the kick, and the match headed almost immediately to extra time, where Pape Gueye’s stunning strike settled the game.

Before the match was played, complaints had been made by Senegal and other opponents of Morocco that refereeing decisions were favouring the host nation – something the Moroccan manager, Walid Ragraoui, vehemently rebuffed.

During the walk-off by their players and staff, some of the Senegalese fans took to the field to protest. Subsequently, 18 of those arrested were handed prison sentences, ranging from three months to one year, along with fines of up to 5,000 Moroccan dirhams ($545).

Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, in a move that followed his country’s football association, denounced their sentencing by Morocco on February 20.

CAF’s disciplinary procedure resulted in fines totalling more than $1m and the banning of Senegal’s coach and Senegalese and Moroccan players on January 29.

The sanctions, however, only applied to African games and not the FIFA World Cup 2026, which kicks off in June and for which Senegal and Morocco have both qualified.

Of the fines, which were substantial against the FSF, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) was fined $200,000 for the behaviour of the home team’s ball boys, who at one stage tried to seize a towel being used by Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui said the game had given African football a “shameful” image, while his Senegalese counterpart, Papa Thiaw, defended his actions – and those of his players – on Instagram. “It was never my intention to go against the principles of the game I love so much. I simply tried to protect my players from injustice,” he said.

An immediate appeal, which was dismissed at the time by CAF, was made by Morocco for the result to be cancelled and for them to be declared the winners because of the Senegalese walk-off.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, however, slammed Senegal’s walk-off the day after the final, and the FRMF announced it was pursuing legal action with FIFA and CAF because it “significantly impacted the normal flow of the match and the players’ performance”.

Why did the CAF change its mind about stripping Senegal of the AFCON title?

Tuesday’s decision, two months after the final and Morocco’s initial approach, came after CAF’s appeals board ruled on the matter.

The board said Senegal is “declared to have forfeited” the match by leaving the field. The 1-0 result after the resumption, it said, was now “being officially recorded as 3-0” ‌in favour of Morocco.

CAF cited article 82 of the tournament regulations for its marquee event to justify the verdict enforced on appeal, though not at the first hearing.

It states: “If, for any reason whatsoever, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorization of the referee, it shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition.”

Still, the appeal verdict did seem to override the referee’s authority in making field-of-play decisions.

What happens next for Senegal and Morocco in the fallout from the AFCON farce?

It is unlikely that this will end the matter, and the case is set to go to a further appeal – potentially at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The FSF has condemned the decision to strip them of the title, labelling ⁠it “unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable”, ⁠and saying it casts a shadow over African football.

“The Senegalese Football Federation denounces this unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable decision, which casts a shadow over African football,” it said ⁠in a statement on Wednesday.

“To defend its rights and the interests of ⁠Senegalese football, the federation will initiate an appeal as soon as possible before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.”

Should the counter appeal by Senegal indeed go beyond CAF’s own panel to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, the process typically takes a year to deliver a verdict.

“The FSF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values of integrity and sporting justice and will keep the public informed of developments in this matter,” the federation said.

What has been the reaction to CAF stripping Senegal of the AFCON title?

The verdict on Tuesday awarded Morocco their first African title since 1976 and denied Senegal their second, which they last won in 2021.

Abdoulaye Seydou Sow, secretary-general of the FSF, immediately reacted by saying the organisation would appeal.

“We will not back down. The law is on our side,” Sow told the public broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television Senegalaise late on Tuesday.

He called the ruling a “shame for Africa”.

“This decision is a travesty that rests on no legal basis. We felt that the panel was not there to apply the law, but to carry out an order,” Sow said.

Senegal defender Moussa Niakhate posted a story on Instagram with an image of himself holding the trophy and the message that said: “Come and get it! They’re crazy!”

In a similar story post, left back El Hadj Malick Diouf added: “It’s not what I expected … this thing isn’t going anywhere.”

Claude Le Roy, who managed Senegal between 1988 and 1992, said: “No one could have imagined such ‌a ‌statement two months after the final.

“For years, all the refereeing decisions have been flouted by the CAF,” the veteran coach said on French television.

What is the latest on Regragui and the Morocco job before the World Cup?

Under coach Regragui at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Morocco became the first African team to reach the semifinals of the tournament.

Regragui, however, left the job two weeks ago following fierce criticism for not winning the AFCON title, saying, “The team needs a new lease of life before the World Cup.”

Barring a successful appeal by Senegal to CAF, Morocco will go to the FIFA World Cup 2026 as African champions.

Whether this latest development opens the door for a sensational comeback for Regragui remains to be seen.

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