Senegal said it will appeal after being sensationally stripped of its Africa Cup of Nations title Tuesday, with the Confederation of African Football instead awarding the crown to Morocco two months after a chaotic final.
The controversy stems from the Jan. 18 showdown in Rabat, where several Senegal players walked off in protest after the hosts were awarded a late stoppage-time penalty.
Captain Sadio Mane eventually led his teammates back onto the pitch. Morocco went on to miss the penalty, and Pape Gueye struck in extra time to seal what appeared to be a 1-0 win for Senegal.
But CAF ruled otherwise.
After reviewing Morocco’s appeal, the governing body declared that Senegal had forfeited the match, with the result officially recorded as a 3-0 victory for Morocco.
The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON regulations, which state that if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorization of the referee, it shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated from the competition.”
The articles add that the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match 3-0.”
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation said in a statement its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations.”
“The federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, to the clarity of the competitive framework, and to the stability of African competitions,” the statement added.
Senegal’s football authorities said it will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“The Senegalese Football Federation condemns this unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision, which brings African football into disrepute,” it said in a statement.
Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegal supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest the late penalty awarded to Morocco.
The controversial spot kick was awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala at the end of the allotted eight minutes of added time following a VAR check for a challenge on Brahim Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.
The game was goalless at the time, and Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with the penalty deep into stoppage time.
But Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted Panenka by the Real Madrid winger, who appeared distracted by the long delay following the decision.
The match at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium then went to extra time, and Gueye’s 94th-minute strike won it for Senegal.
Several of the team’s players posted on social media after the announcement that they had been stripped of the title.
Defender Moussa Niakhate, who plays for Lyon, posted a picture of himself lifting the trophy with the message “they’re mad,” in an apparent reference to CAF.
In the immediate aftermath of the final, FIFA president Gianni Infantino condemned “some Senegal players” for the “unacceptable scenes.”
“It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner, and equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport. It is simply not right,” Infantino, who attended the match, said.
In late January, CAF imposed a series of disciplinary sanctions, including fines amounting to several hundred thousand euros, on the federations of both countries for unsportsmanlike conduct and violations of fair play principles.
The appeal trial of 18 Senegal supporters, imprisoned since the final and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to one year for hooliganism, which had been scheduled for Monday, has been postponed until March 30.
