Sport
Morocco crowned AFCON 2025 champions as CAF overturns final, hands Senegal 3–0 defeat
The drama surrounding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final has taken a dramatic turn, with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) officially awarding Morocco the title after ruling that Senegal forfeited the match.
In a decision announced on Tuesday, CAF’s Appeal Board overturned the earlier outcome of the final and upheld Morocco’s protest, declaring Senegal in violation of competition rules.
The governing body confirmed that the match would be recorded as a 3–0 win in favour of Morocco, effectively stripping Senegal of the victory they had secured on the pitch.
The original final, played on 18 January, had ended 1–0 in Senegal’s favour after extra time.
However, the match was marred by controversy late in regulation time when Senegal’s players briefly refused to continue playing after Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the score still goalless.
Although play eventually resumed following a delay, and the penalty was saved before Senegal went on to score the winner, the incident became the focal point of Morocco’s appeal.
CAF ruled that Senegal’s actions during that period breached Articles 82 and 84 of the tournament regulations.
According to these rules, any team that refuses to play or abandons a match without the referee’s approval is deemed to have lost and can forfeit the game.
The Appeal Board concluded that Senegal’s conduct met that threshold, triggering an automatic 3–0 loss.
The ruling also dismissed all other arguments raised in the appeal, reinforcing the decision in Morocco’s favour and backing the stance of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football, which insisted its protest was about enforcing the rules rather than disputing the sporting contest.
Despite the victory, Morocco were not cleared of all wrongdoing.
CAF held them accountable for the behaviour of ball boys during the match, although the fine was reduced to $50,000.
A separate $100,000 fine related to interference around the VAR review area remains in place after the appeal was dismissed.
Moroccan midfielder Ismaël Saibari also saw his punishment reviewed.
While the misconduct finding against him was upheld, his sanction was reduced to a two-match ban, with one match suspended, and a previously imposed $100,000 fine was scrapped.
Senegal’s football federation has strongly rejected the outcome and confirmed plans to challenge the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
It described CAF’s decision as “an unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable decision which brings discredit to African football.”
