By Godwin Dudu-Orumen, Esq.
The Confederation of African Football(CAF) punched Africans in the face and dragged African foitball in the mud with the silly and harebrained decision of its Appeal Board to hand Morocco the African Cup of Nations title won in January by Senegal.
Every football follower is aware of the incident, which froze the final game between Senegal and hosts, Morocco for more than 15 minutes. I will not repeat the details here. My concern is with presposterous decision of CAF’s Appeal Board to declare Morocco winner of a game concluded wuth Senegal edging them to win the title.
Many discerning football analysts and fans had questioned the propriety of Morocco challenging the outcome of the game as it was very clear the match was won and lost under the rules of football.
It was thus with relief that we welcomed the throwing out of the petition by CAF’s Disciplinary Board and when Morocco persisted in its folly by taking the matter further to the Appeal Board, many felt they were merely on a wild goose chase.
Alas, our sanity was on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, assaulted by the most bizarre decision to be taken by any football body in the history of the beautiful game. The Appeal Board, in a clearly misguided decision, stripped Senegal of the title it had won through sheer grit and verve despite even what many believe to be horrible officiating in favour of Morocco, an advantage the hosts enjoyed throughout the tournament.
The board in the now infamous decision held inter alia:
“The Confederation of African Football(CAF) Appeal Board decided today that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF African Cup of Nations(AFCON), the Senegal team is declared to have forfeited the final match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON Morocco 2025), with the result of the match being recorded 3-0 in favour of Morocco.
“On the appeal by Morocco regarding the application ofArticles 82 and 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON), the CAF Appeal Board made the following rulings:
•” The appeal lodged by the Moroccan Football Federation is declared admissible in form and the appeal is upheld.
- The CAF Disciplinary Board decision is set aside
- The CAF Appeal Board further finds that the conduct of the Senegal team falls within the scope of Articles 82 and 84 of the Regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations.
- The protest lodged by the Moroccan Football Federation is upheld.
- It is declared that the Senegalese Football Federation through the conduct of its team, infringed Article 82 of the Regulations of the African Cup of Nations.
- In application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Senegal team is declared to have forfeited the match, with the result recorded as 3-0 in favour of the Moroccan Football Federation”
It is disgraceful and this is putting it very mildly, that a continental body likd CAF would align itself with with such arrant nonsense. That Motsepe,who heads the body would allow Africa to be so disgraced speaks clearly to the declining quality of leadership of African football. Some of us have long believed that with each passing on of the baton of leadership at CAF, there has been an inexorable dimunition in the quality of officials superintending over the affairs of the body. This here, is incontrovertible proof. Motsepe, unfortunately, is unqualified to run CAF as events in the past and this latest misadventure, have shown.
So, what is wrong with the decision of the Appeal Board? Plenty. But let’s zero in on the most glaring of the faux pas.
In declaring Morocco champions of the 2025 AfCON, the board held that Senegal violated Article 82 of the Regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations. That Article 82 reads:
“If, for any reason whatsover, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered loser and be eliminated for good from the current competition. The same shall apply for teams previously disqualified by decision of CAF.
Now, let’s look at the decision of the board with regard to Article 82 above.
Did Senegal refuse to play at a point? Yes. Did they eventually play and the match completed? Again, yes. The game ended with a winner declared and a trophy handed over to the winners by the leadership of CAF.
These outcomes torpedo the arguments advanced by the Appeal Board. At best, the Senegalese players and their coach can be sanctioned for walking off the pitch(to which the eventually returned) and not their country punished by stripping it of the title.
So, basically, because the match was completed, the provisions of Article 84 do not apply. At best, the Appeal Board can impose fines and suspensions but certainly not reverse the outcome of the match.
Even setting all this argument aside, the most important reason why the decision to strip Senegal of its title is wrong is simply because it violates the Laws of the Game as released and codified by International Football Association Board(IFAB).
The Laws of the Game takes precedence over any other laws governing football including those outlined by FIFA, world football governing body. FIFA has 50 percent representation on the board of IFAB and relies on the Laws of the Game to administer football.
Let’s look at the section of the Laws of the Game violated by the decision of the CAF Appeal Board.
Law 5 of the Laws, which concerns refereeing states among other things that:
“Each match is controlled by a referee who has full aauthority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match. - 1. Authority of the referee
Decisions will be made to the best of the referee’s ability according to the Laws of the Game and ‘spirit of the game’ and will be based on the opinion of the referee, who has the discretion to take appropriate action within the framework of the Laws of the Game. - 2. Decisions of the referee
The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final. The decisions of the referee and other match officials, must always be respected”.
Analysing the provisions above, it is clear that CAF’s Appeal Board clearly overreached itself and overstepped its bounds by adjudicating on a matter over, which it was clear it had no authority.
No one has the authority to upturn the decision of a refeering taken during a game. The decision may be reviewed afterward and if found to be defective, may lead to the referee being punished but the decision stands no matter how unfair or unjust it is perceived to be.
In this case of the final match between Senegal and Morocco, the referee IN HIS OWN WISDOM, decided, after reviewing the situation and considering every circumstance, that the match should continue.
Whatever motivated him to so decide is hardly important. What concerns us is that as the man in control of the game he took the decision that the game should continue. That decision must be respected by CAF and if Motsepe and his men at the leadership of CAF have any shred of decency in them, they should reverse the regretable decision of the Appeal Board and rescue African football from this embarassment.
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