My understanding is that Senegal has taken its case to retain the African Cup of Nations trophy to the global apex body for sports disputes, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). I am confident that CAS will uphold fairness and allow Senegal to keep the trophy, enjoying all the privileges that come with it until the next tournament cycle.
However, if CAS rules in favor of Morocco and instructs Senegal to return the trophy, then Senegal should comply, but not without consequence. It should immediately seek redress from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the time and effort expended in a match that would, by such a ruling, be rendered meaningless, in part. If CAF recognizes the restarted and completed game as invalid, then that period becomes unpaid, voided labor.
In that context, Senegal would be justified in pursuing compensation. And one form of compensation could be the allocation of the 2026 AFCON hosting or title rights, an equitable remedy for the disruption and inconsistency. Get one judge in Dakar and rule because this is an extraordinary matter; you cannot allow those men to have played for free, and the only compensation is the CUP. Yes, CAF, “go to court” as we say in Nigeria!
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Simply put, the trophy belongs to Senegal because the match was played to completion on the pitch. Football must be decided on the field, not overturned by technicalities. And if, for any reason, that principle is ignored, then fairness demands that Senegal be fully compensated, even to the extent of being granted the 2026 AFCON Cup. A judge in Dakar has the “power” to impose that fine, and it would be up to CAF to “go to court”!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
Sausa, ex-football strategist, Secondary Technical School Ovim
What Is This Happened in A Semi-Final Game?
I struggle to understand why many are defending CAF on this matter. Let’s think it through: if this same situation had occurred in the semi-final, and Senegal went on to lose the final, would CAF then strip the eventual winner of the trophy and hand it to Morocco simply because Morocco lost to a team that had briefly left the pitch in the semi-final game?
What exactly is the debate here?
Years ago, Victor Ikpeba of Nigeria scored a penalty in AFCON; everyone watching on television saw it go in. Yet the referee ruled otherwise. Nigeria protested, but CAF maintained that the decision on the pitch could not be overturned.
Consider also Maradona’s famous “Hand of God” against England. The whole world saw what happened, but once the referee allowed it, FIFA did not reverse the decision after the match.
The principle has always been clear: decisions made on the pitch stand.
We love this game too much to allow technicalities and boardroom decisions to determine outcomes. The integrity of football demands that winners emerge on the pitch. The rules are clear: goals count only when the referee recognizes and awards them on the pitch. In the same way, matches are defined by what the referee and match commissioner officially record.
On the day of the AFCON Final, the match was played, concluded, and recorded with Senegal as the winner. That should be the end of the matter.
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