CAF AWARDS MOROCCO WINNER OF AFCON

The Confederation of African Football Appeal Board has officially awarded the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title to Morocco after ruling that Senegal forfeited the tournament’s final match. In its decision, CAF said the match would be recorded as a 3-0 victory in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football, handing the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Morocco 2025 trophy to the hosts.

The ruling followed an appeal lodged by the Moroccan football federation over the application of Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON regulations. According to the Appeal Board, the protest submitted by Morocco was upheld, while an earlier decision of the CAF Disciplinary Board was set aside. CAF further held that the conduct of the Senegal national team fell within the scope of the relevant regulations, leading to the forfeiture.

In its findings, the Appeal Board declared that the Fédération Sénégalaise de Football, through the conduct of its team, breached Article 82 of the AFCON regulations. As a result, Article 84 was invoked, with Senegal deemed to have forfeited the final and Morocco officially confirmed as 3-0 winners. CAF added that all other requests for relief in relation to that aspect of the case were dismissed.

The board also delivered separate rulings on sanctions linked to incidents involving Morocco during the match. It partially upheld the appeal concerning Morocco midfielder Ismaël Saibari, confirming that he committed misconduct in violation of Articles 82 and 83(1) of the CAF Disciplinary Code. However, his punishment was reduced to a two-match suspension, with one match suspended, while the earlier fine of $100,000 imposed on him was cancelled.

CAF also reviewed other incidents connected to the final, including the conduct of ball boys, interference around the OFR/VAR review area and the use of lasers. The Appeal Board held Morocco responsible for the ball boys’ conduct but reduced the fine in that case to $50,000. It upheld the $100,000 fine relating to interference around the VAR review area, while the sanction over the laser incident was reduced to $10,000.