Morocco Crowned Champions After Caf Cancels Senegal’s Final Win
Morocco have officially been awarded the Africa Cup of Nations title after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) ruled that Senegal forfeited the final following controversial scenes during the match played on 18 January.
The final had originally ended with Senegal winning 1-0 after extra time, but the result has now been cancelled after Morocco’s football federation submitted an appeal. Caf confirmed that Senegal violated competition rules when their players briefly refused to continue playing after the referee awarded Morocco a penalty in stoppage time while the score was still 0-0.
According to Caf regulations, any team that refuses to play or leaves the field without the referee’s permission can be declared the loser. As a result, the match has been recorded as a 3-0 victory in favour of Morocco.
The incident happened late in the game when referee Jean Jacques Ndala awarded Morocco a penalty after reviewing a challenge through VAR. Senegal players protested the decision and left the field for several minutes before returning to finish the match.
Morocco’s Brahim Diaz missed the penalty, which was saved by goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, and the game went to extra time where Pape Gueye scored what was believed to be the winning goal for Senegal.
However, Morocco later appealed, saying their request was not about the performance on the field but about applying the tournament rules correctly.
Caf accepted the appeal and confirmed that Senegal’s actions broke the regulations, leading to the final result being changed and Morocco declared winners.
