Morocco and Senegal make rival cases for 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title in CAS hearing

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has begun hearing arguments in Lausanne over the disputed 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final between Morocco and Senegal.

The case centres on the legal consequences of Senegal’s players briefly leaving the pitch in protest at refereeing decisions before returning to complete the match. Referee Jean-Jacques Ndala allowed play to resume, and Senegal later won 1-0 after extra time.

However, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) appeals committee subsequently overturned the result, ruling Senegal had forfeited the match and awarding Morocco a 3-0 victory.

Morocco’s case relies on Articles 82 and 84 of the Africa Cup of Nations regulations. Those provisions state that a team can be deemed to have lost if it refuses to play or leaves the field before the end of a match without the referee’s permission. Depending on the circumstances, the team can also be recorded as losing 3-0 and be excluded from the competition.

Morocco argues that the offence was committed when Senegal’s players left the pitch and that their later return did not erase the breach.

Football Federation of Morocco president Fouzi Lekjaa told Jeune Afrique that the laws of football and the legal rules governing the match had been “obstructed and violated” by the opponents. He also said FIFA had changed its regulations after the incident so that a player leaving the pitch without permission could be shown a red card, which he believes supports Morocco’s position.

Morocco may further argue that Senegal were reduced at one stage to only three players on the pitch, while the Laws of the Game require a team to have at least seven players to continue.

Senegal’s defence

Senegal is expected to base much of its defence on Law 5 of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) Laws of the Game, which gives the referee authority to control the match and makes decisions on facts connected with play final.

Its argument is that Ndala permitted the players to return, restarted the match and managed it until the final whistle, when Senegal were declared 1-0 winners after extra time.

Senegal will ask whether an administrative body can later cancel a result after the referee has allowed a match to resume and then brought it to an end.

Sports lawyer Pius Ndubwoku told SABC that Senegal’s players “returned to the pitch, the match continued, and then the referee blew the final whistle”. He said CAF’s appeals committee could not overturn the referee’s decision made during the match.

The defence, led by Spanish lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo-Perez, may also argue that no clear regulation specifically covers a team temporarily leaving the field before returning to finish the match. Crespo-Perez previously called the re-refereeing of a completed match “unprecedented”, saying the dispute could raise wider questions about football’s rules.

Senegal could distinguish the incident from matches in which a team refused to continue altogether, including the 2019 CAF Champions League final second leg between Esperance and Wydad, by stressing that its players returned and resumed play.

Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy said in March: “We know how we won the Africa Cup of Nations, and we know what happened on one of the nights in February in Morocco.” Former Morocco manager Walid Regragui said: “For me, I am the champion of Africa, whether some people like it or not.”

CAS must now decide whether strict application of Articles 82 and 84 justifies removing an on-field result, or whether the resumed match and final whistle protect Senegal’s victory while leaving other disciplinary sanctions possible.