Senegal‘s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the disputed result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final against Morocco will be heard on October 8.
The Lions of Teranga were controversially stripped of the title by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in March.
Senegal prevailed 1-0 after extra time in the final on January 18, with Pape Gueye scoring the decisive goal.
However, that came following remarkable scenes that saw Senegal refuse to play after tournament hosts Morocco were awarded a highly contentious penalty in stoppage time.
After a delay of around 17 minutes, Senegal’s players returned to the pitch, and Brahim Diaz’s ill-advised panenka was saved, forcing extra time.
The jubilation of their triumph turned to fury two months later.
An initial disciplinary hearing had seen CAF hand down a series of fines and bans for Senegal and Morocco players and officials, but the result was allowed to stand.
But African football’s governing body then subsequently ruled that Senegal were “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.
The appeal by the Moroccan Football Association (FRMF) was deemed “admissible in form” and subsequently upheld.
Senegal unsurprisingly elected to take the case to CAS, sport’s highest court, which elected against an expedited procedure.
As such, the hearing will take place in just over two months, though the decision will not be made on the same day.
In making its decision to overturn the result, the CAF Appeal Board ruled that “through the conduct of its team”, Senegal had breached Article 82 of the AFCON regulations.
Article 82 states that, should a team refuse to play or leave the field before the end of the allotted regulation time without the permission of the referee, then they will be considered the loser of the match and suffer elimination.
That infringement triggered Article 84, which states that any team in breach of Article 82 will be eliminated with a 3-0 defeat.
Senegal endured disappointment at this year’s World Cup, as they were knocked out in the last 32 after progressing through the group stage as one of the eight best third-placed teams.
They were eliminated at hands of Belgium, surrendering a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 after extra time, with that exit seeing coach Pape Thiaw sacked. Morocco were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France.
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