On January 18, Senegal won the CAN 2025 final against Morocco (1-0), host country of the competition. But two months later, to everyone’s surprise, the Teranga Lions had their title withdrawn by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which designated the Atlas Lions as 3-0 winners on the green carpet.
The reason? Senegal was penalized for leaving the pitch at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium, at the very end of regulation time, in protest against the referee’s decision to award a penalty to the Moroccans. Furious with this decision taken by CAF, the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) decided not to stop there, bringing the matter before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
While awaiting the CAS verdict, the hearing of which is scheduled for October 8, Walid Regragui was invited to return to this CAN 2025 final and the CAF decision to crown Morocco at the expense of Senegal during his appearance on the “Magharib podcast”. And the former coach is clear on the subject: the Atlas Lions are African champions.
Regragui: “I am African champion, like it or not”
“As a coach, we did everything to win the title. For me, I am African champion, whether you like it or not. We had a great competition. We were among the best teams, if not the best, and we played some great matches. Concerning the final, we will wait for what the Court of Arbitration for Sport will say”said Regragui.
Before making a tackle on Pape Thiaw: “Senegal is off to the World Cup. There was a penalty against them in the last minutes against Belgium. Why didn’t they leave the field? Because they know that there were sanctions from CAF which made them understand that you cannot leave the field. And yet, the penalty against Belgium was more doubtful than ours! »
