Morocco have been awarded a 3-0 win in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations final after Senegal were stripped of the title in an unprecedented ruling by the Confederation of African Football (Caf). The decision, announced on Tuesday evening, comes after Senegal’s head coach Pape Thiaw and some players left the pitch for 15 minutes during the final in Rabat in January, protesting a penalty awarded to Morocco.
The players eventually returned after captain Sadio Mané implored them to, but the incident led to Caf’s appeal board ruling that Senegal had forfeited the match. The result was recorded as 3-0 in favour of Morocco, with Senegal also found to have infringed article 82 of the Afcon regulations. The initial disciplinary hearing had imposed fines exceeding $1 million and bans on players and officials but left the result unchanged.
Senegal are expected to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Lyon defender Moussa Niakhaté, who played in the final, appeared to criticise the ruling 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 a day after the final. Morocco, who had not won the competition since 1976, were heavy favourites as hosts. The Moroccan football federation stated that its approach was solely to request the application of regulations, not to challenge sporting performance.
