Senegal won AFCON 2025, CAF has taken it away, and African Football will wear this embarrassment
I wrote about the AFCON 2025 final and called the chaos in Rabat a stain on what had been the gold standard of African football. I also warned that shiny stadiums, great production, and the fancy flashes are just hardware. If the software is glitchy, the whole system crashes.
Two months later, CAF has confirmed every fear, and then some.
On Tuesday, CAF’s Appeal Board stripped Senegal of the AFCON 2025 title they won on the pitch and handed the trophy to Morocco, declaring a 3-0 forfeit under Articles 82 and 84 of the competition regulations due to Senegal’s brief walkoff during the chaotic closing minutes of the January 19 final.
This decision is a disgrace because of how the organisation governing football on the continent has handled it. The fact that this ruling was made in the same breath as fines that amount to a slap on the wrist for Morocco’s multiple infractions, mere weeks after the nation postponed the Women’s African Cup of Nations, tells you everything you need to know about the organisation running African football.
The most important decision maker in a football match is the referee, and his/her decision is final. Even with the introduction of the VAR, the on-field referee still decides on the next step. Governing bodies can apologise, sanction referees and even ban them forever, but the decisions made on the pitch are never overturned.
In 2019, the CAF Champions League final between ES Tunis and Wydad Casablanca collapsed after Wydad walked off the pitch in Tunis over a disputed VAR decision. The referee decided to end the fixture and awarded the match to ES Tunis. CAF, under Ahmad Ahmad, then overturned that result and fixed a replay. That was wrong, and it put African football under unwanted spotlight, so if CAF cannot see how this decision to award the title to Morocco looks, they are either blind or they do not care. Either answer is damning.
All we ask for is clearer rules and more transparent decision-making processes across CAF competitions.
There are other concerning decisions in the statement. Morocco’s Ismaël Saibari was confirmed to have committed misconduct. Morocco was confirmed responsible for their ball boys’ behaviour and the tampering with the towels of opposition goalkeepers. Interference around the VAR review area was confirmed. Morocco was handed reduced fines in each case.
Morocco is not just any nation in this context; it is the most influential footballing nation in Africa at this time. They hosted the last edition of the WAFCON, the AFCON 2025; they are hosting the next edition of the WAFCON; and they are the 2030 World Cup co-hosts. Even the current Africa Player of the Year is from the country. So, when there are allegations of bias and home advantage throughout the tournament and a final played in Rabat is refereed in chaos, and the trophy is eventually handed to the host nation via a committee ruling two months later, you do not need to be a conspiracy theorist to find the optics catastrophic.
Former England international and pundit Jamie Carragher and others who have spent years mocking AFCON are not mocking in silence right now. They are laughing loudly, and it is hard to argue with them right now.
For the record, Senegal was not blameless. The walkoff was wrong. The coaches and players have since apologised for it. The scenes involving fans and security were indefensible. Sadio Mané was the only figure that night who showed genuine leadership by refusing to leave the pitch, urging calm, telling his teammates to lose with dignity if they must.
But the referee and all the other parties involved agreed to continue the game and his decision is meant to be final.
The Senegal Football Association has announced it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. Good. Let an independent body with no stake in African football politics examine these facts in daylight.
AFCON 2025 was genuinely special for four weeks. It will now be remembered for a boardroom decision that insults every African football fan who watched. CAF had a chance to protect this tournament’s legacy. It chose, instead, to do what it has always done.
