CAF just handed Morocco a trophy Senegal won on the pitch. It's as brazen as it sounds — and it isn't even close to the wildest thing African football's governing body has ever done.
The ruling came Tuesday. Senegal's 1-0 extra-time win in the January 2025 AFCON final has been overturned to a 3-0 default victory for Morocco, after CAF's appeals board determined Senegal forfeited by walking off the field during stoppage time chaos. Senegal has vowed to take it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Given CAS timelines, a final verdict could be over a year away.
But to understand why this feels so familiar — and why Senegal's faith in the appeals process is complicated at best — you need to look at the full picture of what CAF has presided over.
The walk-off that started it all
The January 18 final in Rabat was already unraveling before Senegal left the pitch. A Senegal goal was ruled out in stoppage time. Morocco were then awarded a penalty. Scuffles broke out. Senegalese fans tried to storm the field. Coach Pape Thiaw led his players off and it genuinely wasn't clear whether the match would finish.
They came back about ten minutes later. Morocco's Brahim Diaz stepped up for the potentially decisive penalty — and Edouard Mendy saved it. Pape Gueye scored in extra time. Senegal won 1-0.
Now, officially, they didn't. Make that what you will when handicapping how CAS will rule.
CAF's greatest hits
The governing body has form here, and not the good kind.
- Togo, 2010: Three people were killed when the Togo team bus was ambushed in Cabinda, Angola. The players wanted to continue in tribute to those who died. CAF disqualified them and then banned Togo from the next two tournaments for the crime of following their government's instruction to come home.
- Host country chaos (2013–2025): Every AFCON since 2013 has involved a change of host nation. Libya, Morocco, Cameroon, Guinea — all stripped of hosting rights at various stages. Morocco ended up hosting the 2025 edition after Guinea was removed in 2022. The tournament has been a geopolitical game of hot potato for over a decade.
- Equatorial Guinea, 2015: The semifinal against Ghana descended into a bottle-throwing riot after Ghana went 2-0 up. A police helicopter circled the stadium. Ghana's fans were physically escorted out for their own safety. The match finished somehow.
- CAF vs CAS, 2019: Wydad Casablanca walked off in the Champions League final against Esperance de Tunis after a goal was disallowed and VAR wasn't working. CAF initially awarded the trophy to Esperance, then reversed itself and ordered the match replayed. CAS stepped in and confirmed Esperance were champions. CAF's credibility took a direct hit it never fully recovered from.
- The early whistle, 2021: A referee blew the final whistle twice too early in Mali vs Tunisia, with Mali 1-0 ahead. Tunisia refused to return for the restart 30 minutes later — their players were already in ice baths. Mali were awarded the win. That sentence should not exist in professional football.
- Stadium crush, Cameroon 2022: Eight people died and 38 were injured in a stampede at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde during a last-16 game. Witnesses pointed directly at security failures as the cause. CAF had awarded Cameroon the hosting rights after stripping them once already.
The pattern isn't bad luck. It's structural. CAF has repeatedly found itself overruled by CAS, embarrassed by its own decisions, and presiding over tournaments where basic safety and officiating standards have fallen short. None of that context makes the Senegal ruling easier to accept — it makes it harder.
Senegal's appeal to CAS is the right call. It's also the only institution that has consistently corrected CAF when CAF has gotten it wrong.
