Afcon 2025: Senegalese government demands investigation into CAF after Morocco awarded title
In its decision to award the title to Morocco, CAF “partially upheld” an appeal against an incident involving a ball boy in the final and reduced the Moroccan FA’s fine for the incident.
In torrential rain, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy regularly dried his gloves, but the ball boys repeatedly tried to remove his towels.
At one point Senegal’s reserve goalkeeper Yehovan Diouf was tackled to the ground by three ball boys and dragged to the floor when he tried to intervene.
The fine for fans shining lasers at players on the pitch was also reduced by CAF.
CAF’s former disciplinary head, Raymond Haack, questioned decisions made by African football’s governing body and suggested there was a perception of “political interference” as “President of the Moroccan Football Association” [Fouzi Lekjaa] is the first vice president of CAF. ”.
“The circus continues,” Hack told the BBC World Service.
“Much will depend on the referee’s written report, but the fact that the referee allowed the game to continue and they went into extra time gives the impression that he was satisfied that the game would continue.
“He’s the only person who can finish the game. Only the referee, not the officials or the governing body.
“Otherwise, every time someone disagrees with a decision, they will appeal or take it to court.”
“Games must be won on the playing field, not in the boardroom.”
Hack, a lawyer and member of FIFA’s disciplinary committee, said that if Morocco’s players had intended to challenge the result, they should have informed the referee that they were playing under protest.
He also said CAS could take six months to rule on Senegal’s appeal.
Jalal Bounar, a Moroccan journalist, expressed to Newsday that the country welcomed Kaif’s decision “with great enthusiasm and joy.”
He said, “Morocco appealed against the decision to the Confederation of African Football because they believed that Senegal broke the rules during the match and that is why Moroccans went out to celebrate.”
“If Senegal is awarded the title, it won’t be a catastrophic event.” We will accept because we are satisfied that we reached the final.”
However, North African journalist Maher Mezahi noted that such sentiment does not resonate across the continent.
“The rest of Africa seems to be angry about it because it feels like once again the Confederation of African Football has almost disgraced the game,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Mezahi cited CAF’s decision to ban Togo from two Africa Cup of Nations for abandoning the 2010 competition following a gun attack on their team bus in Angola two days before the tournament.
Referring to CAF’s decision on the 2025 finals, he said, “Unfortunately, they have gotten into the habit of issuing these kinds of decisions—whether it’s the disciplinary committee or the appeals board— which are ultimately overruled at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but it makes the whole thing look very amateurish.”
