The decision of the African Confederation to strip Senegal of the Africa Cup title and award it to Morocco has sparked a major controversy in the world of football. The Senegalese Federation has called the decision "unjust" and announced that they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS).
"The Senegalese Football Federation denounces an unjust, unprecedented, and unacceptable decision that discredits African football," they wrote in a statement posted on social media. "To defend their rights and the interests of Senegalese football, the Federation will file an appeal with the TAS in Lausanne as soon as possible," they added.
Morocco was declared Africa champion on Tuesday after the Appeals Committee of the African Football Confederation upheld their protest and determined that Senegal's withdrawal during the final on January 18 constituted sufficient grounds for disqualification and to declare the match result as 3-0 in favor of the host team.
Senegal had won the final in Rabat with a goal in extra time, but before that, they had a 14-minute field abandonment after a penalty was awarded against them in added time at the end of the regulation 90 minutes.
The protest was instigated by coach Papa Bouna Thiaw, who later received a lengthy ban, and saw veteran forward Sadio Mané become a hero trying to get his teammates back on the field. Meanwhile, Senegalese fans tried to invade the field and threw objects onto the pitch.
Once Senegal returned to the field, the referee allowed the game to continue, and Brahim missed a penalty for Morocco in the dying moments. The match then went to extra time, and midfielder Pape Gueye scored Senegal's winning goal in the 94th minute.
However, on Tuesday, the CAF Appeals Committee stated that by leaving the field, Senegal breached the tournament regulations, lost the match by forfeit, and declared Morocco the winner by 3-0.
Social media erupted following the CAF's decision, and among the strong reactions, Senegalese defender Moussa Niakhaté, who plays for Olympique Lyon, posted a photo of himself lifting the Africa Cup, with the comment: "Come and get it, these guys are crazy."
He was immediately followed by his teammates who shared similar images.
The CAF Appeals Committee justifies its decision based on articles 82 and 84 of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Regulations, which state that if a team "refuses to play or abandons the field before the end of the regulation time of the match, they shall be considered losers and definitively eliminated from the ongoing competition."
In a statement, the Moroccan Football Federation indicated that their initiative "never aimed to question the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations."
The precedent
The TAS, based in Switzerland, had to intervene in 2019 when the Moroccan club Wydad Casablanca abandoned the second leg of the African Champions League final, also in protest against VAR.
In that case, the team refused to continue, and the referee declared their opponent, Esperance, the winner. However, the CAF executive committee surprisingly ordered a replay of the match. Esperance took the matter to the TAS and was eventually declared the champion, while the CAF was heavily criticized for trying to overturn the referee's decision.
The referee's decision by Congolese Jean-Jacques Ndala to allow the Nations Cup final to continue in January, instead of stopping it and declaring Morocco the winner after Senegal's withdrawal, will likely be a key element in any argument to reinstate Senegal as the champion.
"No one could have imagined such a decision two months after the final," said veteran coach Claude Le Roy, who coached Senegal between 1988 and 1992. "For years, all refereeing decisions have been ignored by the CAF," he added on French television, as reported by Reuters.