A hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport will decide whether Senegal is reinstated as winners of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Cas has scheduled the appeal for 8 October after Senegal challenged Caf’s January decision to overturn the final result.
The controversy centres on the final between Senegal and hosts Morocco. Senegal initially won the match 1-0 after an extra-time goal by Pape Gueye, which would have been the country’s second Afcon title following their 2021 triumph. The match was disrupted when a stoppage-time penalty was awarded to Morocco with the score goalless, prompting Senegal’s players to walk off the field.
Play resumed after roughly 17 minutes, the penalty by Brahim Diaz was saved, and the game went into extra time, where Pape Gueye scored. Caf later ruled that Senegal had forfeited and recorded a 3-0 victory for Morocco, declaring the hosts tournament winners.
Senegal filed its appeal with Cas on 25 March, asking the arbitration body to set aside Caf’s decision and restore Senegal as champions. According to a Cas statement, the October date follows the standard timeline. Caf and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation did not agree to an expedited process, so the parties will proceed at the normal pace.
Cas also said neither Caf nor the FRMF requested the hearing be public, therefore proceedings will be held behind closed doors at Cas headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The tribunal cannot say when it will issue a final ruling, only that any decision will not be delivered on the day of the hearing.
The October session is the next and likely decisive procedural step in a dispute that has divided African football since January. The arbitration's outcome will determine which nation is recorded as the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations champion and resolve whether Caf’s forfeiture ruling stands.
