Former CAF disciplinary committee chairman Raymond Hack has criticised the Confederation of African Football for imposing what he describes as an overly lenient sanction on Senegal coach Pape Thiaw following events at the AFCON final.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with beIN SPORTS, Hack said the governing body failed to respond with sufficient severity after the final between Morocco and Senegal, holding Thiaw responsible for the incident and arguing that a much stronger punishment was justified.
According to Hack, the disciplinary commission missed an opportunity to act decisively in a case he considers particularly serious.
He insisted that CAF has previously demonstrated the capacity to impose sanctions that reflect the gravity of incidents, and questioned why that approach was not applied in this instance.
The former official described the episode in stark terms, stating that the commission has, on “many an occasion historie d’impois de seanctios a la ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒 𝑙𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑒́ 𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑠”, while characterising the situation as “𝑙’𝑢𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑔𝑒̂𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑗𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒́𝑐𝑢𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟 𝑙𝑎 𝐶𝐴𝐹 ».
Hack made clear that, in his view, the responsibility lay squarely with the Senegal coach. He suggested that the disciplinary response did not match the seriousness of the events surrounding the final and warned that such decisions could undermine the authority of CAF’s regulatory framework.
“If I had been present, I would have demanded a sanction of at least 6 months’ suspension from all football-related activities for the coach,” he added.
His comments have added fresh scrutiny to CAF’s handling of the case, particularly given his former role at the head of the organisation’s disciplinary committee.
Hack’s intervention carries weight because of his experience within the body responsible for enforcing disciplinary standards across African football.
While CAF has already confirmed its decision, the remarks underline ongoing debate about consistency and firmness in disciplinary rulings at major tournaments.
For Hack, the issue goes beyond one individual case, touching on the credibility of sanctions and the message they send about accountability at the highest level of the African game.
