Senegal, Morocco Face CAS Showdown Over 2025 AFCON Title

Posted : 08 October 2026

Senegal and Morocco will enter another decisive chapter in their dispute over the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title when the Court of Arbitration for Sport hears Senegal’s appeal on Thursday, October 8. The hearing will take place behind closed doors at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Senegal originally won the final 1-0 after extra time in Rabat on January 18, with Pape Gueye scoring the decisive goal. The match became controversial late in normal time after Morocco were awarded a penalty following a VAR review.

Senegal's players temporarily left the pitch in protest over the decision. They later returned after an interruption of about 14 minutes, Morocco's Brahim Diaz missed the penalty, and the match continued into extra time before Gueye's winning goal.

The controversy continued after the tournament. CAF's Appeal Board later ruled that Senegal had forfeited the final because the team left the field without authorisation, overturning the result and awarding Morocco a 3-0 victory.

That decision changed Morocco from beaten finalists into the official 2025 AFCON champions. Senegal rejected the ruling and filed its appeal with CAS on March 25, asking the sports tribunal to overturn CAF's decision and restore the original result.

The central issue before CAS is whether Senegal's temporary departure from the pitch amounted to abandoning the match under CAF's competition regulations. Senegal's position is complicated by the fact that the players returned and the match was allowed to continue to its conclusion.

The case involves the Senegalese Football Federation, CAF and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. The hearing is being conducted under CAS's standard procedure because the parties did not agree to an expedited process.

The proceedings will be held in French and behind closed doors. CAS has confirmed that no ruling will be issued immediately after Thursday's hearing, with the panel set to deliberate before announcing its final decision.

For Morocco, a successful defence would cement the title already awarded by CAF. For Senegal, a successful appeal would overturn the forfeiture and restore the result recorded on the field in Rabat.

The hearing therefore represents a major moment in one of African football's most unusual title disputes. The eventual CAS ruling will determine whether Morocco retains the 2025 AFCON crown or Senegal regains the championship it originally won on the pitch.

Senegal, Morocco Face CAS Showdown Over 2025 AFCON Title

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