Senegal Football: CAF Declares Morocco Winner Of CAN 2025, Final Awarded 3-0
The Confederation has declared Morocco the winner of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after ruling that Senegal forfeited the final. Senegal Football figures in the decision after the CAF Appeal Jury applied tournament rules that led to a 3-0 result in favour of Morocco, the Confederation announced on Tuesday.
Senegal Football: Why The Appeal Succeeded
The Appeal Jury judged that the conduct of the Senegal team during the final fell within the scope of articles 82 and 84 of the tournament regulations. The panel concluded that Morocco’s formal challenge was founded and that the match should be awarded against Senegal.
The Jury cited article 82, which states that if a team leaves the field before the end of the match without the referee’s authorization, it will be considered the loser and will be definitively eliminated from the competition in progress. The Jury also applied article 84, which explains that a team infringing articles 82 and 83 will be definitively excluded from the competition and will lose the match 3-0.
From On-Field Finish To Administrative Forfeit
On the field, Senegal had initially been declared the winner of the final after a match marked by the Senegalese team leaving the pitch in protest and by a missed panenka by Brahim Diaz. Following Morocco’s protest, the Appeal Jury reviewed the case and concluded the regulatory conditions for a forfeit were met, formalizing a 3-0 victory for the Moroccan federation.
The Confederation’s communication on Tuesday confirms the application of the cited articles and the resulting administrative outcome. The ruling both awards the trophy to Morocco and enforces the competition penalties spelled out in the regulations for teams that abandon a match without the referee’s permission.
The decision resolves the formal dispute over the final’s result by applying the tournament’s disciplinary framework. The Confederation’s announcement closes this phase of the process; further implications tied to exclusion or additional sanctions are those specified by the same regulations referenced by the Appeal Jury.
