Image Credit: @FootballSenegal Twitter

On January 18th 2026 Senegal faced host Nation Morocco in the finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The game will forever be remembered for the off the field antics from the ball boys, the questionable match officiating and of the course the walkout by the entire Senegalese team including the manager and the coaching staff. Senegal would go to win the game despite everything and be crowned AFCON champions with everyone assuming that would be the end of it however the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have since had other ideas.

What have CAF done?

On 17th March of this year, CAF officially released a statement that announced that Senegal were to be stripped of the title of 2025 Africa Cup of Nations champions and that the trophy along with their medals are to be given to AFCON finalists and host nation Morocco.

Why has CAF done this?

As per their statement, the events in 2025 AFCON final infringed the regulations of the tournament. The specific regulation was infringed was Article 82 which in summary states that if a team refuses to play, leaves the pitch before the regulation time without the match official’s authorisation or withdraws from a match, that team will be deemed the losers of the fixture and will be eliminated from the competition. This rule applies regardless of the justification.

The application of Article 82 automatically triggers the application of Article 84 which in summary states that any team that triggers Article 82 is immediately deemed to have lost the match by a scoreline of 3-0. This is the mandatory sanctions that takes place no matter the score of the on-going fixture and as a consequence of triggering Article 82. The issue of the matter is the fact that the match official for the final did not follow this protocol and allowed the match to continue which infringes on both AFCON regulations. The statements also includes amendments to sanctions that were issued to the Moroccan FA and one of their national team players.

Why did CAF wait this long to act?

This is the question a lot of people have been asking as since the final took place in January and the sanctions are only being implemented in March which is raising a lot of eyebrows. Most people argue that if the matter was addressed the same night or at the very least within the same month, the situation would be a lot easier to understand however now there is speculation of corruption as the host nation Morocco were already accused multiple times throughout the competition of having unfair advantages.

The Amendments to Sanctions

Shockingly some sanctions have been amended following the announcement of the match forfeit regulations. As mentioned previously, Morocco’s ball boys were seen doing off the field antics that were criticised by many and initially punished by CAF for interference misconduct. The ball boys were seen removing towels from opposition team goalkeepers during previous AFCON fixtures and these antics took an aggressive turn in the AFCON final. There is plenty of video evidence online showing the ball boys essentially wrestling Senegal’s backup goalkeeper for this towel that he was guarding it near the goalkeeping area in anticipation of the ball boys trying to remove it. During the same incident Morocco’s number 11, Ismaël Saibari, also got involved in the situation by trying to prevent the Senegalese backup goalkeeper from giving their on-field goalkeeper the towel he was guarding. The Moroccan player was set to be fined and given match suspensions for violating the Articles 82 & 83 of the CAF Disciplinary Code as well as the Moroccan FA were fined for other confirmed interferences such a laser incident, the ball boys’ towel removing antics and the interference around the OFR/VAR area however these sanctions have now been amended.

The amendments look like this:

  • Ismaël Saibari’s match suspensions have been reduced to 2 CAF matches with 1 match suspended with his $100 000 fine set aside
  • The fine for the ball boys’ antics has been reduced to $50 000
  • The OFR/VAR interference fine has been reduced to $100 000
  • The laser interference fine has been reduced to $10 000

All of these amendments have only gone to further the speculation and suspicion of behind-the-scenes corruption between CAF and the Moroccan FA.

What has Senegal done in response?

As mentioned previously, Senegal were ordered to return the AFCON trophy along with their medals so they could be presented to Morocco. Some Senegalese players like Idrissa Gana Gueye have gone on to voice their opinions on the situation while others have gone on their socials to post and share photos of themselves with the AFCON trophy and medals as a taunt to the decision made by CAF. The players and staff have reportedly refused to return the trophy and medals insisting that the trophy “will not leave the country” with some players even bolding stating for CAF to “Come and get it”. The trophy was most recently seen at the Senegal military base with many speculating that the trophy will remain there until the ownership dispute is resolved as the Senegalese Federation has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the situation.