Almost two months after the memorable final of the Africa Cup, there has been another twist: The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has retrospectively declared Morocco the winners.
As the CAF announced late on Tuesday evening Central European Time, the association’s Court of Appeal has ruled that the final of the 2026 Africa Cup between Senegal and Morocco will be scored 3-0 in favor of the hosts in accordance with Article 84 of the rules and regulations – meaning that Morocco were surprisingly declared the Africa Cup winners just under two months after the final.
Senegal had won the actual final at the end of January 1-0 after extra time, but the match was overshadowed by a protest scandal. Morocco were awarded a controversial penalty in injury time of normal time. This was followed by wild protests from the Senegalese and a riot on the pitch. In the end, most of the Senegalese team left the pitch and went into the catacombs. After a good 15 minutes of stoppage time, Morocco’s Brahim Diaz missed the penalty kick – and Senegal won the game in extra time with a goal from Pape Gueye (94′).
The match was about to be abandoned at one point as chaos broke out in the stands in Rabat, the Moroccan capital and venue for the final. Senegal fans wanted to storm the pitch, which was prevented by the intervention of the security forces.
Morocco subsequently lodged an appeal against the scoring of the match because the Senegalese players had left the pitch in protest at the referee’s decisions. “This situation had a significant impact on the normal course of the match and the performance of the players,” was the reason given by the association at the time. The protest was initially rejected at the end of January. However, Morocco appealed – and have now been awarded the title after all.
Senegal’s departure from the pitch spells doom
A statement from the association simply states that the appeal lodged by the Moroccan Football Association has been upheld and the original decision of the disciplinary committee has been overturned. The CAF justifies the decision with regard to the conduct of the Senegalese players prior to the Diaz penalty with a violation of Article 82, which in turn activates the aforementioned Article 84.
Article 82 states: “If a team withdraws from the competition for any reason whatsoever, fails to appear for a match, refuses to play or leaves the field of play before the normal end of the match without the referee’s permission, it shall be deemed to have lost the match and shall be excluded from the competition in progress.” Article 84 stipulates that in such a case, the match is scored 3-0 in favor of the opponent.
The Senegalese national team therefore conceded the match by leaving the pitch. In its initial decision, the CAF had ruled that the criteria for abandonment were not met by the players returning to the pitch.
A statement from the two associations concerned was still pending on Tuesday evening. In an initial reaction, however, the official X account of the Senegalese national team posted jubilant pictures from home after – initially – winning the final.
Individual penalties partially mitigated
At the end of January, the CAF had imposed more than one million dollars in fines on players, coaches and the two associations. Senegal’s national coach Pape Thiaw, who had ordered his players to leave the pitch after a penalty whistle in stoppage time, was banned for five matches and fined 100,000 dollars. According to the CAF, the appeal against the three-match ban for Morocco’s Ismael Saibari has now been “partially upheld” and the 24-year-old will only have to sit out two more games – the fine of 100,000 dollars, on the other hand, has been completely annulled. Saibari was involved in riots over the towel of Senegal keeper Edouard Mendy.
Senegal, with Bayern professional Nicolas Jackson and former Munich player Sadio Mané in the starting eleven in the final, thus lose their second Africa Cup title after 2022. For Morocco, on the other hand, it is the first triumph at the continental championship since 1976 – albeit with a bitter aftertaste.