Legal experts weigh in on Senegal having AFCON title stripped

Reactions have poured in from all official, sporting, and legal levels following the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) decision to declare Senegal the loser of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final against Morocco (3-0). This decision has reignited a larger question: who holds the authority to make such decisions, the referee or the committees?

The decision issued by the Appeals Committee has sparked widespread division within football circles and opened the door to conflicting legal interpretations, all of which agreed on one point: what happened transcends the mere result of a match.

AFCON mess

International sports lawyer Ali Abbas described the decision in press statements as “shocking and illegal,” arguing that the Appeals Committee exceeded its authority by interfering in the outcome of a match decided on the field.

He explained that the basis upon which the committee relied—according to the CAF statement—relates to Article 82, which penalizes refusal to play. However, he emphasized that the assessment of such refusal remains solely with the match referee.

The legal expert stated:

The referee is the only one authorized to end the match or declare a team withdrawn. Since he decided to resume the match until its conclusion, no judicial body has the right to change the result afterward.

Temporary rejection and complete withdrawal

From another perspective, regulations expert Mohamed Bayoumi offered a more detailed analysis of the legal loopholes, emphasizing that what occurred did not constitute a “complete withdrawal” justifying a forfeit loss.

He explained that the regulations—specifically Articles 82 and 84—stipulate that a team must remain absent from the field for 15 minutes before being considered withdrawn, which did not occur in this match.

He added:

Senegal returned and completed the match, and the game ended normally on the field. This is the fundamental principle of football.

Precedent

Notably, this decision brought back memories of the CAF Champions League final between Wydad and Esperance, a precedent highlighted by Ali Abbas, who argued that African football “has not learned from its past mistakes.”

He continued sharply:

We are facing a legal farce… and a decision more serious than the previous one, which will have major repercussions for the reputation of African football.

Amid this controversy, the next step seems almost certain, as the Senegalese Football Federation is heading towards escalating the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

According to Abbas, Senegal’s chances of winning the case “exceed 90%,” while Bayoumi asserts that the court will review the entire file, not just the Appeals Committee’s decision, which opens the door to its annulment or amendment.

Between a decision issued by the Confederation of African Football and an anticipated appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, African football faces a new test, one that concerns not only the outcome of a title but also the credibility of its legal system.