Senegal to appeal after being stripped of Afcon title, hosts Morocco declared champions

PARIS – Senegal have said they will appeal after they were sensationally stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) title on March 17 and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) instead declared Morocco as champions, two months after their chaotic final in Rabat.

Several Senegalese players controversially walked off the pitch in protest during the title decider on Jan 18, as the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.

After they were eventually coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, Brahim Diaz missed the penalty for Morocco and Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time which gave Senegal a 1-0 victory.

CAF said that having studied Morocco’s appeal, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of the Moroccans.

The CAF Appeal Board justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the Afcon regulations, which state that if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered (loser) and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition”.

The articles add that the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match by 3-0”.

The Moroccan football federation said in a statement that its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.

“The federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, to the clarity of the competitive framework, and to the stability of African competitions,” the statement added.

Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal “as soon as possible” to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“The Senegalese Football Federation condemns this unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision, which brings African football into disrepute,” it said in a statement.

Mane himself posted on social media, saying: “What has happened has gone too far. This is not the football we fight for, this is not the Africa we believe in. There is too much corruption in our sport, and it is killing the passion of millions.”

Besides Mane, several of the team’s players posted on social media after the announcement that they had been stripped of the title.

Defender Moussa Niakhate, who plays for French club Lyon, posted a picture of himself lifting the Afcon trophy with a message that said “They’re mad”, in an apparent reference to CAF.

A spokesperson for the Senegal government on March 18 called the matter “a grossly illegal and profoundly unjust decision”, while calling for “an independent international investigation into suspected corruption within the CAF’s governing bodies”.

Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest against the late penalty awarded to Morocco.

The controversial spot kick was awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala right at the end of stoppage time after 90 minutes, following a video assistant referee check for a challenge on Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.

The game was goal-less at the time and the Real Madrid winger could have won the trophy for Morocco with the penalty.

But Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak Panenka chip by the 26-year-old, who was clearly distracted by the long delay caused by the visitors’ protest.

The game at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium then went to extra time, and Gueye’s brilliant 94th-minute strike won it for Senegal.

In the immediate aftermath of the final, Gianni Infantino – president of football’s world governing body FIFA – had condemned “some Senegal players” for the “unacceptable scenes”.

“It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner and, equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport. It is simply not right,” the 55-year-old, who attended the match, said.

In late January, CAF had already imposed disciplinary sanctions, including fines, on the football federations of both Senegal and Morocco for unsportsmanlike conduct and violations of fair play.

The appeal trial of 18 Senegalese supporters – imprisoned since the final and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to one year for “hooliganism” – which was scheduled to take place on March 16, has been postponed until March 30. AFP