Morocco awarded AFCON 2025 title as CAF overturns result, strips Senegal of trophy
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, following Senegal’s controversial walk-off, thereby declaring Morocco winners of the competition.
The AFCON final took a surprise turn when the Senegal team stormed off the field in protest, after a penalty was controversially awarded against them towards the end of normal time.
The team had earlier protested the referee’s decision to disallow a goal they scored in the second added minute.
Senegal’s coach Pape Bouna Thiaw, in response, ordered his players off the pitch after the penalty was awarded, following a VAR check by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala.
The match which was delayed for 14 minutes as a result of the incident, only continued after Senegal’s star player Sadio Mane persuaded his team mates to return to the pitch, with Senegal eventually winning the match by a lone goal scored after extra time.
That result however, has now been overturned after a decision by a CAF appeal board, following an appeal by the Moroccan football governing body, FRMF, which was upheld.
CAF said Senegal had been “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.
According to CAF, Senegal infringed on Article 82 of regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations and, as a result, Article 84 became applicable.
According to Article 82, if a team refuses to play or leaves the ground before the end of regulation time without the referee’s authorisation, it will be considered the loser and eliminated from the competition.
Article 84 which complements the provision, states that any team that violates Article 82 will be permanently eliminated and will lose the match 3-0.
The Senegalese Football Federation has described the development as “an unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable decision which brings discredit to African football”.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Moroccan football body, the FRMF, said its decision to appeal the final result was “never intended to challenge the sporting performance of the teams” but was a request for the “application of the competition’s regulations”.
