CAF president defends controversial call to strip Senegal of its AFCON 2025 title

The president of African football’s governing body has defended his integrity and impartiality after the Senegalese government called for an international investigation into «suspected corruption» at the organization after it stripped the country of the Africa Cup of Nations title.

Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), tried on Tuesday to explain the decision of the appeals committee, which ruled that Senegal had forfeited the January final by walking off the pitch, turning the 1-0 victory in extra time into a 3-0 standard win for hosts Morocco.

«The CAF Disciplinary Board has made one decision. The CAF Appeal Committee has taken a completely different position. And I was told that Senegal will appeal, which is very important,» Motsepe said in a video published on the CAF website. “We will comply with and respect the decision taken at the highest level.”

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Motsepe said the members of the CAF Disciplinary Board and Appeal Board are chosen from names proposed by each of the 54 member associations.

“If you look at the composition of these bodies, they reflect some of the most respected lawyers and judges on the continent,” he said. “These are people with integrity and a track record… the independence is reflected in the decisions made by the two agencies.”

In January, the CAF disciplinary board imposed fines of more than $1 million on the Senegalese and Moroccan federations combined. It issued suspensions against the Senegalese coach and several players. But it had no influence on the outcome of the final.

The CAF appeals committee ruled on Tuesday that Senegal forfeited the January 18 final by leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission, and that Morocco should therefore be awarded a 3-0 victory.

Most of the Senegalese team left for almost ten minutes while Senegal fans fought with the stewards behind one of the goals in protest against a controversial penalty for Morocco after a Senegal goal was disallowed. The players returned, Morocco missed the penalty and Senegal won the match by scoring in extra time.

“What happened in that last match is that it undermines the good work that CAF has done over many, many years to ensure that there is integrity, that there is respect, that there is ethics, that there is governance, as well as the credibility of the results of our football matches,” said Motsepe, who said the incidents in the final had exposed CAF’s work to tackle suspicion and distrust fdsw.

«It’s a legacy problem. When I became president, one of the biggest concerns was the impartiality, independence and respect of referees and match officials, and a lot of good work has been done,» he said. “That there are still suspicions because it is a legacy issue, it is something that has existed for many, many years and we deal with that consistently because that is crucial.”

The Senegalese Football Federation said it will appeal Tuesday’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Senegalese government denounced what it called a «manifestly erroneous interpretation of the regulations, leading to a grossly illegal and grossly unjust decision.»

Motsepe defended CAF against the perception of favoritism towards Morocco, which is co-hosting the 2030 World Cup and has invested heavily to become a football superpower.

“No country in Africa will be treated in a manner that is more preferential, more advantageous or more favorable than any other country on the African continent,” Morsepe said. “We take what happened in the last match in Morocco… we take it very, very seriously.”

He said CAF has already taken steps to address the shortcomings.

“We have very high standards that we set for ourselves. It is important to us that ordinary football supporters and spectators in each of the 54 countries in Africa, in their judgment – ​​not in the judgment of CAF, not in my judgment – ​​consider the decisions of our judicial bodies to be fair,” Motsepe said.

Published on March 19, 2026