PARIS: Senegal say they will appeal after they were sensationally stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title on Tuesday and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) instead declared Morocco champions, two months after their chaotic final.

Several Senegalese players controversially walked off the pitch in Rabat during the final on Jan 18 in protest when the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.

After Senegal’s players eventually returned having been coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, Morocco missed the penalty and Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time that gave his team a 1-0 victory.

CAF said that having studied Morocco’s appeal, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.

“By calling into question a result achieved at the end of a match that was properly played and won in accordance with the rules of the game, the CAF seriously undermines its own credibility”, government spokeswoman Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye said in a statement.

“Senegal unequivocally rejects this unjustified attempt at dispossession” she added while calling for “an independent international investigation into suspected corruption within the CAF’s governing bodies”.

In her statement, Faye called the matter “a grossly illegal and profoundly unjust decision”.

“Senegal will pursue all appropriate legal avenues, including before the competent international courts, to ensure that justice is served and that the primacy of sporting results is restored”, she said.

The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations, which state that if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered (loser) and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition”.

The articles add that the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match by 3-0”.

Pending a final arbitration ruling, the secretary-general of the Senegalese Football Federation asked CAF in a letter “to suspend the execution of this decision and to freeze all trophy return procedures in Morocco”.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said in a statement its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.

“The Federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, to the clarity of the competitive framework, and to the stability of African competitions,” the statement added.

Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“The Senegalese Football Federation condemns this unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision, which brings African football into disrepute,” it said in a statement.

CHAOTIC SCENES

Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest the late penalty awarded to Morocco.

The controversial spot-kick was awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala right at the end of the allotted eight added minutes in normal time following a VAR check for a challenge on Brahim Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.

The game was goalless at the time and Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with the spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time.

But Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted ‘Panenka’ chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.

The game at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium then went to extra time, and Gueye’s brilliant 94th-minute strike won it for Senegal.

Several of the team’s players posted on social media after the announcement that they had been stripped of the title.

Defender Moussa Niakhate, who plays for French club Olympqiue Lyonnais, posted a picture of himself lifting the Africa Cup of Nations trophy with a message that said “they’re mad”, in an apparent reference to CAF.

In the immediate aftermath of the final, FIFA president Gianni Infantino had condemned “some Senegal players” for the “unacceptable scenes”.

“It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner, and equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport, it is simply not right,” Infantino, who attended the match, said.

In late January, CAF imposed a series of disciplinary sanctions, including fines amounting to several hundred thousand euros, on the federations of both countries for unsportsmanlike conduct and violations of fair play principles.

The appeal trial of 18 Seneg­alese supporters, imprisoned since the final and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to one year for “hooliganism,” which was scheduled to take place on Monday, has been postponed until March 30.

DISGRACE OF AFRICA

Senegal football fans on Wednesday slammed the decision to strip the country of the title, calling the move a “disgrace for Africa”.

Gora Ndiaye, a resident of Dakar who works as a driver, told AFP he felt like he had “been hit over the head” when he heard the news on the radio.

“If this law was applicable, it should have been applied immediately and the cup should have been awarded to the Moroccans”, Ndiaye said, calling the move “a disgrace for Africa”.

With the news ricocheting across social media and the airwaves on Wednesday fans are now waiting for the results of a promised appeal by their country’s football authorities.

“I started by laughing and being surprised at the same time, because it really shocked me that two months later they took away our victory”, Assietou Diallo, a 25-year-old accounting assistant, told AFP from downtown Dakar.

Senegalese press were unanimous, with headlines such as “Big Continental Farce”, “Joke of the Century” and “Unpr­ecedented Scandal”.

Senegal defender Moussa Nia­k­hate posted a photo on Insta­gram of himself holding the Africa Cup and wearing a medal, with the comment “Come and get them! They’re crazy!” Senegal fans maintain that even if the team are stripped of their trophy, they are still the true victor in the eyes of spectators.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2026