The Court of Arbitration for Sport received Senegal’s appeal on March 25, 2026, from the Senegalese Football Federation seeking to set aside the CAF ruling that declared the team had forfeited the final and recorded a 3-0 result in Morocco’s favor. A CAS panel will examine submissions from all parties during the October 8 proceedings at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to a statement from the arbitration body. The hearing will take place behind closed doors and no date has been set for issuance of a verdict, CAS said. CAS director general Matthieu Reeb stated that the body is perfectly equipped to resolve this type of dispute with the assistance of expert and independent arbitrators.
Senegal defeated Morocco 1-0 in extra time in the Africa Cup of Nations final on January 18, 2026, Reuters reported. A penalty awarded to Morocco in stoppage time prompted Senegal players to leave the pitch in protest, creating a delay of about 15 minutes before captain Sadio Mane persuaded the team to resume play, the Arab Times reported. Morocco forward Brahim Diaz then missed a Panenka-style penalty kick, according to accounts from multiple outlets including Al Jazeera.
The Confederation of African Football Appeals Board ruled in March 2026 that Senegal had forfeited the match under Articles 82 and 84 of the tournament regulations, a CAF statement said. Article 82 addresses a team leaving the field before the end of a match without referee authorization while Article 84 specifies a 3-0 forfeit result unless a more advantageous score already exists, CNN reported. The Royal Moroccan Football Federation had lodged an appeal after an initial disciplinary board decision rejected forfeiture and instead issued fines and bans.
CAF’s initial disciplinary measures following the final included combined fines exceeding $1 million along with sanctions on individuals from both teams, ESPN reported on March 25, 2026. The Senegalese federation challenged the subsequent reversal by the appeals board at CAS in a bid to restore the original match result and title, according to filings detailed by Reuters. The case also involves fan clashes during the tournament that led to the Moroccan king pardoning 18 Senegalese supporters in May, the Arab Times reported.
The episode has drawn widespread coverage across African and international media with The Guardian reporting on March 18, 2026, that a former CAF appeals committee member described the ruling as one that overstepped the body’s authority to alter an on-field referee decision. FIFA laws of the game establish that referee decisions connected to the result of a match are final, a sports law specialist noted in an April 2026 analysis for The Conversation. Morocco co-hosts the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, adding a layer of context to the dispute as detailed in reports from The Peninsula Qatar.
Senegal’s appeal seeks both reinstatement as champions and suspension of related timelines until full grounds for the CAF decision are provided, CAS documents show. The arbitration process typically involves extended periods for written submissions before any hearing occurs, Reuters noted in its coverage of the scheduling. No further procedural timelines have been released by the Court of Arbitration for Sport at this stage.
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