The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has sensationally stripped Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title and awarded a 3-0 win to Morocco after an appeal board ruling on Tuesday evening. The decision stems from an incident during the final in Rabat in January, when Senegal's head coach, Pape Thiaw, and several players walked off the pitch for 15 minutes in protest at a penalty awarded to Morocco.
The players eventually returned after captain Sadio Mané implored them to do so. Brahim Díaz's subsequent spot-kick was saved, sending the match into extra time, where Pape Gueye scored the winning goal for Senegal. An initial Caf disciplinary hearing had imposed fines exceeding $1 million and bans on players and officials from both teams but left the result unchanged.
Caf's appeal board ruled that Senegal had forfeited the final under article 84 of the competition's regulations, and that the Senegalese Football Federation had infringed article 82 through the conduct of its team. Senegal are expected to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Senegal defender Moussa Niakhaté reacted angrily on Instagram, posting a picture of himself holding the trophy with the caption: 'Come and get them. They are crazy.' Almost a million supporters had lined the streets of Dakar to celebrate Senegal's second Afcon title the day after the final.
Morocco, who had not won the competition since 1976 and were heavy favourites as hosts, welcomed the ruling. The Moroccan football federation stated that its approach was solely to request the application of competition regulations, not to challenge the sporting performance of the teams.
