It is this Tuesday, eight days after the completely crazy final of the 2025 African Cup of Nations won by Senegal against Morocco (1-0 ap), in Rabat, that CAF meets to make decisions. The sanctions could be heavy, very heavy. If the title won by the Lions of Teranga should be approved, Senegal may very well be suspended for the next CAN and its coach Pape Thiaw should receive numerous suspension matches.
This final in the Moroccan capital obviously went into added time in the second half, after a penalty awarded to the local team for a collision with Brahim Diaz, following the intervention of the video referee. While Senegalese supporters jumped onto the pitch to fight with the stewards, Pape Thiaw, exasperated even though the Senegalese could have scored earlier without the referee’s intervention, asked his players to return to the locker room! Sadio Mané stayed in the area and managed to bring his team back.
After winning a second star for his country, Pape Thiaw will be expensive and his suspension could very well apply for the 2026 World Cup in North America. Sadio Mané and his teammates are in the France group and the Blues are their first opponents. Aliou Cissé’s successor in 2024 could give up his apron in the coming days. And for good reason.
Pape Thiaw fired or upgraded
The Senegalese Minister of Sports, Khady Diene Gaye, recently assured on TV that qualification for the 2026 World Cup and a victory at the CAN were part of the clauses in the coach’s contract (“this is what was signed between the two parties and it is clear”), but Pape Thiaw’s current lease currently runs until February 28, as indicated by the Senegalese media wiwsport.
If his suspension from CAF is not transmitted to Fifa, Pape Thiaw will likely be extended at the head of Senegal with a salary increase. The former striker is already part of the legend of African football, having participated in the Lions’ adventure until the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup. He then played at RC Strasbourg with José Luis Chilavert, Teddy Bertin, Corentin Martins and Danijel Ljuboja.
