Senegal Stripped of AFCON Title as CAF Declares Morocco Champions

Senegal has been stripped of their Africa Cup of Nations title, and Morocco has been declared champions after the Confederation of African Football’s Appeal Board ruled that Senegal forfeited the final, according to CAF and Reuters. The decision overturns Senegal’s 1-0 extra-time win in Rabat and records the result as a 3-0 victory for Morocco.

The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final Match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 (“the Match”),…

— CAF Media (@CAF_Media) March 17, 2026

CAF said its Appeal Board upheld a protest from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and found that Senegal’s conduct during the final fell within the scope of Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON regulations. In its statement, CAF said Senegal was deemed to have forfeited the match and that the result would officially stand as 3-0 in Morocco’s favour.
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According to Reuters and AP, the ruling stems from Senegal’s walk-off during the January 18 final after a late penalty was awarded to Morocco. Senegal later returned to the pitch, Morocco missed the penalty, and Senegal went on to win the match in extra time, but CAF’s Appeal Board later determined that the walk-off constituted a breach serious enough to trigger forfeiture under tournament rules.

The reversal gives Morocco its first AFCON crown since 1976, ending a 50-year wait for the continental title, according to Reuters and AP. For Senegal, the ruling erases what had appeared to be a successful title defence and opens one of the most controversial chapters in modern African football administration.

Senegal’s football federation rejected the decision in strong terms. Reuters and AP reported that the federation described the ruling as “unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable” and said it would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. Senegalese officials also said the judgment damages the credibility of African football governance.

On the Moroccan side, Reuters reported that officials framed the case as a matter of enforcing competition rules rather than disputing what happened in open play. That distinction is central to CAF’s judgment, which focused not on the penalty decision itself but on whether a team could leave the field without authorization and still retain the result.
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The case has already triggered wider debate across the continent over refereeing disputes, disciplinary consistency, and the authority of CAF’s legal bodies. Reuters noted comparisons with past African club-level controversies that later reached CAS, underscoring how major football disputes in Africa increasingly hinge on legal interpretation as much as on-field events.

For African football, the ruling matters beyond Senegal and Morocco. It raises immediate questions about tournament governance, protest protocols, referee authority,y and the threshold for forfeiture in elite continental competition. With AFCON serving as Africa’s flagship football event, any post-final reversal of this scale is likely to shape how federations, players, rs and officials handle future disciplinary disputes, as reflected in the broad reaction reported by Reuters, AP, and other major outlets.
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What comes next is clear for now. Senegal has saidity will take the case to CAS, while CAF’s current ruling leaves Morocco as the official champions unless that decision is overturned on further appeal, and no revised competition outcome beyond CAF’s ruling has been announced.