Senegal and Morocco adopt contrasting strategies ahead of CAN 2025 final hearing

Senegal and Morocco will appear before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday as their dispute over the CAN 2025 final continues, with the two sides taking sharply different approaches to their legal defence and public communication.

The Federation Senegalaise de Football (FSF) has openly presented an international team of prominent lawyers, while the Federation Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF) has kept details of its legal representatives largely private.

The contrast is particularly notable because the perception was almost the opposite during the proceedings before the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF). At that stage, the Senegalese camp had criticised what it described as an extensive Moroccan legal operation.

Senegal made little attempt to conceal its plans. On 26 March in Paris, the federation brought its legal advisers together for a combative news conference intended to set out publicly the arguments behind its appeal to CAS.

Among the terms used were “administrative robbery”, “corruption” and “an attack against the federation, football and sporting discipline”. Six lawyers were either present or introduced at the event: Aly Fall, the president of the bar; Me Seydou Diagne; Me Moussa Sarr; Spanish lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo Perez; Me Serge Vittoz; and former president of the Paris Bar Pierre-Olivier Sur.

The group combines Senegalese and international expertise, with each member bringing a different background. Crespo Perez is a specialist in sports law and is known for having worked on more than 500 cases before CAS through his firm. Sur, meanwhile, contributes experience in international criminal proceedings.

By assembling that team and presenting it publicly, the FSF signalled its intention to take the case beyond the confines of African football. The message in Paris was designed to underline the wider significance of the dispute.

Juan de Dios Crespo Perez said: “It is not only the integrity of African football, but the integrity of the world of football” that would be at stake before CAS.

Morocco has chosen a much lower-profile route. Few public details have emerged about the exact make-up of the FRMF’s defence, which has preferred to operate with greater discretion.

The limited information reported by Medias24 nevertheless points to a legal structure led by the Moroccan firm Naciri & Associes. The defence has also been strengthened by a lawyer with experience of proceedings before CAS in Lausanne.

That approach differs markedly from Senegal’s decision to publicise both its advisers and its wider legal strategy. Morocco appears instead to be placing greater emphasis on the written case and the arguments submitted to the arbitrators than on promoting the identity of its legal team.

Thursday’s hearing will begin to show which federation has assembled the stronger legal operation for the dispute surrounding the CAN 2025 final.