The file is extremely complicated and the Court of Arbitration for Sport is going to take its time. The suspense is total regarding the identity of the winner of the 2025 African Cup of Nations, nine months after the final won by Senegal (1-0, ap), on January 18, 2026 in Rabat. The CAF appeal jury gave a victory on the green carpet to the Atlas Lions on March 17, since a large part of the Senegalese team, at the request of its coach, returned to the locker room after the penalty awarded to Brahim Diaz in the 90th +8.
The CAS, whose decision will be respected by CAF, has studied the Senegalese federation’s appeal but will not rule until the end of November. To be precise, the three arbiters chosen to render a verdict are still under deliberations.
“Morocco has committed no fault”
For Mustapha Hadji, there is no doubt: Morocco will be declared the 2025 African champion. “Morocco did not commit any fault, while the Senegalese players left the field. The law therefore says that Morocco has the right to recover the African Cup”thus recalls the former star midfielder of the Atlas Lions (64 selections from 1993-2002) to the Arab media Kooora. The trophy is still held by the Senegalese federation, after being presented to the people the day after the coronation in Rabat.
The 1998 African Ballon d’Or argues: “We didn’t steal the Cup. We won it according to the rules and the events that happened on the field.” This is the problem in this bag of knots: if the Senegalese players left the field, their captain Sadio Mané went to look for them in the locker room and the referee Jean-Jacques Ndala restarted the match. Brahim Diaz missed his panenka and, during overtime, Pape Gueye scored the only goal of the game.
