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Senegal condemned CAF’s decision to award the AFCON 2026 title to Morocco, after the Teranga Lions were deemed to have withdrawn from the final when they walked off the pitch.
Sadio Mane holds up the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations (Picture credit: AFP)
Senegal on Wednesday demanded an “independent international investigation” into corruption after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) stripped the country of its Africa Cup of Nations title and awarded it to Morocco.
The controversy began when several Senegalese players walked off the pitch in Rabat during the final on January 18, protesting a penalty awarded to the host nation late in second-half stoppage time.
After being persuaded to return to the field by captain Sadio Mane, Senegal’s players resumed play. Morocco missed the penalty, and Pape Gueye scored in extra time, securing a 1-0 victory for Senegal.
However, on Tuesday, CAF surprisingly reversed Senegal’s win, citing regulations about leaving the field.
“By questioning a result achieved in a properly played and won match, CAF seriously undermines its own credibility,” government spokeswoman Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye said in a statement.
“Senegal unequivocally rejects this unjustified attempt at dispossession,” she said, calling for “an independent international investigation into suspected corruption within CAF’s governing bodies.”
CAF stated that after studying an appeal by Morocco, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match,” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0″ in favour of Morocco.
In her statement, Faye described the decision as “grossly illegal and profoundly unjust.”
“Senegal will pursue all appropriate legal avenues, including before the competent international courts, to ensure that justice is served and that the primacy of sporting results is restored,” she said.
The Senegalese football federation announced earlier on Wednesday that they would appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“The Senegalese Football Federation condemns this unjust, unprecedented, and unacceptable decision, which brings African football into disrepute,” it said in a statement.
(With Agency Inputs)
March 18, 2026, 8:26 PM IST
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