Africa Cup of Nations 2025: Court of Arbitration for Sport verdict will not come on Thursday

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hear the dispute involving Senegal, Morocco and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Lausanne on Thursday, 8 October, but no decision is expected at the end of the hearing.

Representatives of all three parties are appearing before an arbitration panel chaired by Gerald Simon, alongside Germany’s Ulrich Haas and Italy’s Luigi Fumagalli. The proceedings began in the morning and are expected to continue into the afternoon, after which the three arbitrators will withdraw to consider the case.

CAS director general Matthieu Reeb has ruled out an immediate announcement. Asked when a ruling could be expected, he said: “I don’t think it will be today or tomorrow. I’m fairly sure of that.”

He added that the tribunal wanted to issue its decision “as quickly as possible” once the hearing had concluded.

The timetable will depend partly on how long the arbitrators need to reach a decision and prepare their award. Reeb said: “It should take a few days, or even a few weeks if the arbitrators want to write a complete decision with the legal reasoning.”

Senegal and Morocco must therefore wait beyond Thursday’s hearing for the outcome. The CAS has been asked to determine the legal consequences of the events during the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 final and to rule on Senegal’s appeal against the decision that awarded the title to Morocco.

No specific date has been given for the verdict. The tribunal will not, however, officially confirm the final winner of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 on Thursday, 8 October.